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RECRUITING Top junior college OL visits PSU Jermaine Eluemunor takes his first recruiting visit and comes away impressed RYA N   S N Y D E R   Lackawanna (Pa.) junior college offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor made his first unofficial visit to any school Friday when he met with the Penn State coaching staff on campus. During the past month, the native of Denville, N.J., has burst onto the recruiting scene, picking up offers from some of the top programs in the nation. The sudden surge in attention means he's spent a lot of time researching his options, but he and his parents are still relatively new to big-time college football. So his first recruiting trip was extremely important from a family perspective. "They have never been to a big college before, or a big football college," Eluemunor said of his parents. "So for them to go see a school like Penn State, a school that competes on the highest level of college football, I think it went really good. They already knew about some things going into it, but they never realized how nice the facilities were, how important the academic support is, all that kind of stuff. I already knew Penn State would be a great fit for me for a few reasons, so I really wanted them to see that. "I know they left with a really good feeling for Penn State. They know that the staff there will take care of me." Academics were one of the most important topics throughout the day. Eluemunor said the academic support staff helped he and his family understand what it's like to get a great education while also devoting time to football. "I didn't get to tour the dorms or any of that, but they did have us meet with academic advisors and that allowed me and my parents to ask a lot of questions," he said. "That may have been one of the more informative parts of the trip. Penn State has so many options, which I really like, because right now I think I want to do something like physical therapy, but I'm still not exactly sure." Offensive line coach Mac McWhorter is in charge of Eluemunor's recruitment, and the juco prospect has already become familiar with his potential position coach. Eluemunor also had a conversation with Bill O'Brien when the Nittany Lion head coach personally informed him of his scholarship offer a few weeks before the visit. M A R C H | BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED PENN STATE COMMITMENTS* NAME Mark Allen Troy Reeder Nick Scott POS RB LB Ath. HT 5-7 6-3 5-11 WT 185 232 180 HOME Hyattsville, Md. Wilmington, Del. Fairfax, Va. SCHOOL DeMatha Salesianum School Fairfax HT 6-3 6-2 6-6 6-5 6-4 6-5 6-1 6-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 6-5 6-0 6-5 6-2 6-1 6-4 6-1 6-4 5-10 6-2 5-11 WT 190 175 290 245 292 270 175 300 192 245 185 290 212 282 200 210 215 170 197 181 270 197 HOME Upper Marlboro, Md. Mt. Lebanon, Pa. Nashville, Tenn. Scranton, Pa. Chesapeake, Va. Alexandria, Va. Monroeville, Pa. Scranton, Pa. Middletown, Del. Woodbridge, Va. Aliquippa, Pa. Brooklyn, N.Y. Washington, Pa. Red Bank, N.J. Monroeville, Pa. Paramus, N.J. Fort Pierce, Fla. Swansboro, N.C. Wheaton, Ill. Baltimore, Md. Hampton, Va. Lima, Ohio SCHOOL Wise Mt. Lebanon Montgomery Bell Scranton Prep Oscar Smith T.C. Williams Gateway Lackawanna College Middletown Woodbridge Senior Aliquippa Abraham Lincoln Washington Red Bank Catholic Gateway Paramus Catholic Fort Pierce Central Swansboro Wheaton North Gilman Bethel Lima Central Catholic THE HOT LIST* NAME Marcus Allen Troy Apke Alex Bars Noah Beh Andrew Brown Jeremiah Clarke Anthony Davis Jermaine Eluemunor** Chris Godwin Da'Shawn Hand Dravon Henry Thomas Holley Shai McKenzie Quenton Nelson Montae Nicholson Jabrill Peppers Sharieff Rhaheed DeAndre Thompkins Clayton Thorson Troy Vincent Jr. Ricky Walker Darius West POS Saf. WR OT OL DE DE DB OL WR DE Saf. DT RB OL DB DB DE Ath. QB DB DT DB * As of March 20 **Junior college prospect "We have been talking a lot," Eluemunor said. "It feels like every day, but it's not quite that much. Going up to Penn State was great because it's great meeting people in person. A lot of these coaches will tell you anything to get you to come to their school, so you have to meet them to get a good feel for who they really are. "Both Coach O'Brien and Coach McWhorter are class acts. We all came away very impressed. They're honest, which is very important. They said they think I do have the potential to play right 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 5 away but also made it very clear that I have to earn it. I respect that." At 6-foot-6, 300 pounds, Eluemunor projects as an offensive tackle at the next level, but the staff told him he could play multiple positions. Eluemunor moved to the United States from London when he was 14 years old. He claims 14 verbal scholarship offers, including offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Kansas State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA and West Virginia. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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