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winter workouts and receive excellent medical attention from Tim Bream, Penn State���s director of athletic training services, and his support staff. In addition to the five players who enrolled early, the Nittany Lions had 12 future players sign national letters of intent on Feb. 6. Given the severity of the sanctions, I can only shake my head in disbelief at how well O���Brien and his staff have recruited through the minefield that the NCAA put in their path. For the first time in the 32 years that I���ve been covering Penn State recruiting, a Nittany Lion coaching staff was able to sign the No. 1-rated prostyle quarterback in the country. That player is Christian Hackenberg, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound signal caller from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Hackenberg verbally committed to Penn State on Feb. 29 and never wavered from his commitment. At that time, he chose the Nittany Lions over Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. O���Brien and his staff also signed Breneman, offensive lineman Brendan Mahon from Randolph, N.J., and defensive end Garrett Sickels of Red Bank Regional High in Little Silver, N.J. Hackenberg, Mahon, Breneman and Sickels were all rated as Top 100 players by Rivals.com. When you think about that, it���s truly amazing what O���Brien has been able to accomplish. But what makes this class special is how well the coaching staff evaluates talent. I believe no fewer than four members of Penn State���s class are undervalued by at least two Internet recruiting services. The undervalued players, in my opinion, are defensive back Neiko Robinson of Northview High in Bratt, Fla.; offensive lineman Andrew Nelson from Hershey, Pa.; linebacker Zayd Issah of Central Dauphin High in Harrisburg, Pa.; and wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton of Mountainview High in Stafford, Va. Robinson, I believe, could turn out to be the most valuable player that Penn State recruited during this cy- cle. He was a first-team Florida 1A All-State selection and was the main reason why Northview won the state title in its division. Despite being suspended for the first four games of the season, he finished with 95 tackles and seven interceptions, and he returned four of those interceptions for touchdowns. He���s an excellent free safety prospect, and I believe he will provide immediate help on special teams ��� an area in which Penn State desperately needs to see improvement. Last season the Lions��� puntand kickoff-return units were among the worst in the country. As for Nelson, the only recruiting publication that had him ranked among the top 15 prospects in central Pennsylvania was the G&W Recruiting Report. He stands 6-5, 295 pounds and may be the most athletic lineman the Nittany Lions recruited in this class. Hershey head coach Mark Painter said Nelson can run the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, and he has excellent feet and lateral mobility. His frame can easily handle 300-plus pounds at Penn State. If I gave out star ratings in my G&W Report, Nelson would be a definite four-star prospect. I can���t understand how Issah was given only three stars by Rivals. In 2011 he was the PIAA Class AAAA Player of the Year. On offense, he rushed for 1,345 yards and 21 touchdowns and caught 29 passes for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, he finished with 123 tackles, 14 sacks and one interception. Issah was one of the main reasons why Central Dauphin won the state title that year. Last season he was slowed by injuries, and his statistics suffered accordingly, but his three-star rating was well-established before the season by Rivals. He will be an outside linebacker at Penn State, and he was the top-rated player at the position on the Nittany Lions��� 2013 recruiting board. 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