Blue White Illustrated

U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L DECISION MAKER DaeSean Hamilton���s path to PSU could lead him to early playing time BY TIM OWEN owen.tim.bwi@gmail.com enn State might be short on scholarship players, but in spite of the NCAA���s restrictions, there���s a talent surplus in the receiving corps. At least eight scholarship receivers return for spring practice, including Big Ten Receiver of the Year Allen Robinson and raved-about redshirt freshman Eugene Lewis. But another guy is set to enter the picture in the summer. And although there���s a logjam already at the wideout spots, he could see immediate playing time this fall. DaeSean Hamilton is a 6-foot, 182pound pass-catcher from Fredericksburg, Va. Rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, Hamilton earned a Class AAA All-State nod at Mountain View High and was voted the Commonwealth District Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. He���s the kind of recruit that the coaches would like to factor into the offense as a true freshman. Wide receivers coach Stan Hixon ���told me that I could be a key a contributor this season at wide receiver,��� Hamilton said. ���Then, hopefully, fill the shoes of Allen Robinson when he [leaves]. When he leaves, then I���ll become the next guy.��� Hamilton also plans on competing for a spot as a return man on special teams. The potential for early playing time certainly played into his decisionmaking process, but that���s not entirely why he chose the Nittany Lions. Plenty of other programs offered early playing time, he said, but Penn State offered more. The new and improved weight room was a key factor. ���That honestly was probably the best weight room that I���ve ever seen,��� he said. The school���s academics played a role, too. (He���s trying to decide whether to study communi- P THE HAMILTON FILE S TAT I S T I C S 190 receptions for over 2,800 yards in his career... 4.57-second 40-yard dash... 4.1 GPA HONORS 2012 Commonwealth District Offensive Player of the Year... Class AAAA All-State by The (Fredericksburg) Free Lance-Star and VirginiaPreps.com... Received four-star rating from ESPN.com and three stars from Rivals.com cations or engineering.) But the trusted relationship that he and his family built with Hixon might have been the clincher. ���It was a pretty great relationship,��� Hamilton said. ���My mom and dad really like him. They���re really close with him, as well. He could just visit and we could talk about anything for one or two hours. So we have a pretty good relationship.��� Hixon had to work fast. Penn State didn���t start recruiting Hamilton until the beginning of his senior season ��� after he had already received more than 10 scholarship offers and after the Nittany Lions had lost a commitment from Philadelphia wide receiver Will Fuller, who switched to Notre Dame in August. The coaching staff was playing catchup when it offered Hamilton a schol- arship in mid-September. By that point, he was seriously considering Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Illinois, Duke and Wake Forest. Mike Farrell, the national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, called him ���a Hokie lean.��� But Hixon and recruiting coordinator Charles London made a strong first impression. Hamilton was scheduled to take an unofficial visit to Penn State for the Indiana game on Nov. 17, but he broke his collarbone during a playoff game the night before and was unable to make the trip. He finally visited Happy Valley with his family on an early December weekend, and when it was time to leave on Sunday, he had seen enough. He wanted to end his recruitment, he told his father, Johnie. He was ready to become a Nittany Lion. Johnie Hamilton wasn���t going to dissuade him. He enjoyed the visit, too, but he left the decision completely up to DaeSean. Many fathers play a handson role in their son���s recruitment, but Johnie was happy to take a backseat. ���We wanted it to be his decision,��� Johnie said. ���We didn���t want to force anything on him. Not that there would be any problems, but he knew what he wanted. He knows what he likes. For us trying to add something to it, that wouldn���t have been any good for him.��� Hamilton is an excellent student with a reported 4.1 GPA, and his father trusted his decision-making process. The young receiver said the hands-off approach allowed him be sure that Penn State was the right place for him. ���They were one of the later schools to jump into the mix,��� he said. ���Then I went up there and got a behind-thescenes view. I got to see all the things that Penn State was all about, and I���ve liked it since then.��� Then he added, ���I liked the decision that I made.���

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