Blue White Illustrated

so he will get his chance in the coming months to prove he has five-star potential. DeANDRE SCOTT CB | 5-8 | 180 | Philadelphia | Imhotep Charter School OFFERS Arizona State, Central Florida, Miami, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Carolina, Temple, Tennessee and West Virginia QUOTABLE ���The weight room they have there is great, it���s huge. They have stuff in there that I haven���t even seen before. I wouldn���t even know how to use some of that stuff right now. It���s real nice in there. I also saw the stadium. That���s like an NFL stadium.��� RYAN���S TAKE Scott is a very impressive player, but Penn State has not yet extended an official offer. He���s 5-8, and that���s a concern. The staff will most likely take two cornerbacks, so there remains a good chance he will pick up an offer in the coming months, especially if players like Dravon Henry eliminate Penn State. ANTOINE WHITE DT | 6-3 | 255 | Millville, N.J. | Millville OFFERS Boston College, Central Florida, Maryland, Old Dominion, Rutgers and Temple QUOTABLE ���The visit went great. I got to talk to Coach Johnson a lot and I got Lions may find a warmer welcome in Ohio P enn State���s recruiting efforts have been sensational since Bill O���Brien was hired in January 2012. Sure, Christian Hackenberg may be the only one who can claim a fivestar ranking, but star ratings are of little concern to the coaching staff. The things that matter are character and a strong desire to help put Penn State back on top. If you judge the Class of 2013 by those standards, as well as the players who recently committed to join the Class of 2014, you have to give credit to the staff for an amazing performance. I believe only a handful of elite programs could have matched its effort. But there���s still plenty of room for improvement. Some fans point to the fact that Penn State never had a chance with such top 2013 Pennsylvania prospects as wide receiver Robert Foster and offensive lineman Pat Kugler. Others have noted that legacy athlete Richy Anderson was the only one of eight verbally offered Maryland prospects to give Penn State a serious look following the release of the Freeh report. So where does recruiting coordinator Charles London think the program needs to improve? ���I just feel like we need to get our roots into Ohio a little better than what was done in the past,��� London said during Penn State���s signing day news conference on Feb. 6. ���I think there are kids in the state of Ohio who do have an interest in Penn State. We have to do a great job of identifying those kids, recruiting them early and getting in there.��� There couldn���t be a better time for Penn State to strike. During Urban Meyer���s first year in Columbus, he made it clear that given a choice between recruiting the best possible prospect at a given position or trying to get an early verbal commitment from an Ohio prospect at the same spot, he���s going to shoot for the moon. His approach has created some friction within Ohio���s high school coaching community. Many of those coaches had come to expect that their top guy would receive an opportunity to play for the Scarlet and Grey. With a little persistence and the right approach, the Nittany Lions to talk to Coach O���Brien. It was a real good day. As far as an offer, they told me they are looking forward to the next step in the recruiting process and how they would love to keep the relationship close as they continue to recruit me.��� RYAN���S TAKE White may receive a Penn State offer in the coming months. The staff doesn���t see him as one of its top three defensive tackle prospects, but he isn���t too far from the top five. He came to camp last year, so Larry Johnson has seen him in action. If Penn State doesn���t receive a commitment from Thomas Holley or Ricky Walker in the coming months, White should get his offer. might be able to use Ohio State���s national ambitions to their advantage. Consider the case of wide receiver Thaddeus Snodgrass, who recently became the latest Ohio prospect to learn the hard way about the Buckeyes��� new recruiting philosophy. After telling reporters he was set to make a commitment in November, the Springfield native declined to follow through. He explained that he had simply changed his mind, but people close to the Springfield program say that the four-star prospect had been led to believe by the Buckeyes that he was one of their top wide receiver targets, only to be turned down when he tried to verbally commit. That���s the sort of embarrassment you don���t just shrug off when you���re 18 years old, and I imagine he won���t forget it if Meyer were to call back. In early February, Snodgrass said Penn State was his new leader. He didn���t hold a Nittany Lion offer at the time, and he still doesn���t; Bill O���Brien and Stan Hixon have some academic concerns. But even if Snodgrass doesn���t end up at Penn State, there will be other Ohio prospects who are turned away because of Meyer���s determination to recruit nationally. These players would not only help Penn State during and after the NCAA sanctions, but would revel in the opportunity to defeat the team that told them they weren���t good enough.

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