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going to sign with Penn State and who wasn���t. I can remember a bulky looking, relatively small kid in 2003 from Moon Township, near the Pittsburgh airport, being recruited as a defensive lineman. He was cocky and coming up with a lot of wisecracks, and his nametag had initials as his first name. Five years later, A.Q. Shipley would win the Rimmington Trophy as the best center in college football. There were three other recruits we sat with at those dinners whom I will never forget. For some reason, I seem to remember a December 2002 or January 2003 dinner in the second floor recruiting lounge. We were sitting with Fran Ganter and he was talking to a recruit I didn���t recognize. The kid left for the buffet line and I asked Fran who he was. ���That���s one of the best running backs in the country,��� he said. ���Oh, so that���s Austin Scott,��� I replied, thinking of the Pennsylvania back from the Allentown area who had offers from dozens of schools around the country. ���No,��� Fran said, ���that���s Tony Hunt from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., and he���s better.��� Hunt renounced his commitment to USC when the Trojans signed Reggie Bush and became a Nittany Lion instead. He not only beat out Scott, but when he finished his career at Penn State in 2006, he was the Lions��� second (and now third) all-time rusher with 3,320 yards (and 25 touchdowns). One evening in 2001, we found ourselves sitting with Channing Crowder and his mother. Crowder, a Super Prep All-America linebacker from Sandy Springs, Ga., was the son of Penn State���s first African-American co-captain, Randy Crowder, a firstteam All-America tackle on the great undefeated 1973 team that featured Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti. Randy and his wife had divorced years earlier, but his son, who was being wooed by several Southeastern Conference teams, still wanted to take a look at Penn State, because he was born in State College when Randy was on Paterno���s coaching staff for two years (1983-84). We were left alone with the Crowders a couple of times when Penn State���s coaches went to the buffet line or to see other recruits, and they talked candidly about their visit, almost as if we weren���t there. As Carole and I were leaving the stadium later, we agreed that Paterno could forget about Crowder. We were right. He originally committed to Georgia, but went to Florida instead and was the Gators��� co-captain and an All-SEC player as a senior. There is one recruit who stood out above all the rest, linebacker Sean Lee. In 2004 we were seated across from Sean and his father, Craig, an attorney in the Pittsburgh suburb of Upper St. Clair. What surprised us the most is that both he and his dad were wearing a coat and tie. That was not the normal dress for these recruits, who sometimes were there in blue jeans, a loose sweatshirt and tennis shoes. Yes, there were other recruits who occasionally wore sports jackets, but to this day, I cannot remember any other recruit with a tie, too. One more thing: The conversation we had with both Sean and his dad was much more sophisticated than our encounters with most other recruits. It was my wife who put it best later: ���There is a father with a lot of class, and his son has it, too.��� Although injuries kept Lee from becoming a first-team All-American, he was an outstanding leader and a fan favorite who went on to become a starter with the Dallas Cowboys. Certainly recruiting dinners have changed under Bill O���Brien. I know the dress of the coaches is much more casual, and I don���t have a problem with that. It���s a new generation with a new man in charge. I would be bothered if the recruits and coaches wore their ball caps inside and especially at dinner, but I know I���m oldfashioned about that. But back to you recruitniks. My favorite recruitnik is a big-time AlaSEE PRATO PAGE 59 In this anecdotal memoir, former Penn State great Dan Radakovich tells all about his experiences as the team���s first linebackers coach and his later role as architect of the Pittsburgh Steelers��� famous ���Steel Curtain��� defensive line. Autographed by author Available through Internet at BadRadFootballNomad.com

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