Blue White Illustrated

F E A T U R E S Kalel Mullings of Milton, Mass.; wide re- ceiver A.J. Henning of Frankfort, Ill.; of- fensive lineman Zak Zinter of Cambridge, Mass.; and defensive end Braiden McGre- gor of Port Huron, Mich. All received four-star ratings from Rivals. Penn State landed the third-best recruiting class in the Big Ten with 27 mem- bers, 13 of whom received four-star ratings and 14 of whom were awarded three stars. The Nittany Lions' top recruits are linebacker Cur- tis Jacobs of Glen Burnie, Md., and tight end Theo Johnson of Windsor, On- tario. Both received four- star ratings. The Nittany Lions signed the top class in the confer- ence at two position groups: tight end and linebacker. In addition to Johnson, they landed three-star tight end Tyler Warren of Mechan- icsville, Va. And in addition to Jacobs, they welcomed three-star Pennsylvania linebackers Tyler Elsdon of Frackville and Zuriah Fisher of Aliquippa. The three biggest surprises in the Big Ten were Nebraska, Purdue and Mary- land. Despite struggling on the >eld in Scott Frost's >rst two seasons in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers recruited the fourth-best class in the Big Ten and the 18th-best class in the country. This was the second consecutive year in which Frost was able to recruit the best class in the conference's West Division. His class con- sists of 23 players, 10 of whom received four stars. Leading that group are wide receivers Zavier Betts of Bellevue, Neb., and Omar Man- ning of Kilgore (Texas) Junior College, and of- fensive lineman Turner Corcoran of Lawrence, Kan. Purdue ended up landing the sixth- ranked class in the Big Ten and the 29th- ranked class in the country. The Boiler- makers' 20-member class is headed up by a quartet of four-star prospects: wide re- ceivers Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen of Walled Lake, Mich., and Maliq Carr of Oak Park, Mich.; defensive end Greg Hudgins of Washington, D.C.; and o?ensive lineman Gus Hartwig of Zionsville, Ind. Maybe the Big Ten's most surprising performance during the 2020 recruiting cycle was turned in by Maryland. The Terrapins were coming o? a disappoint- ing >rst season under Mike Locksley, as they started o? strong but dropped nine of their last 10 games to >nish 3-9. De- spite their poor showing, they were able to sign 26 players and were ranked by Ri- vals as having the seventh-best class in the Big Ten and the 31st-best class in the country. The Terrapins got everyone's attention on Dec. 18 when Locksley was able to convince >ve-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett of Washington, D.C., to switch his verbal commitment from LSU to Mary- land. The Terps also signed three four- star players: running backs Isaiah Jacobs of Owasso, Okla., and Peny Boone of De- troit, and linebacker Rueben Hyppolite of Hollywood, Fla. Wisconsin was right behind Nebraska with a class that ranked >@h in the Big Ten and 27th in the country. The Badgers' class consists of 20 recruits, including >ve who received four-star ratings. Those >ve are running back Jalen Berger of Ramsey, N.J.; o?ensive linemen Jack Nel- son of Stoughton, Wis., and Trey Wedig of Wales, Wis.; linebacker Nick Herbig of Honolulu; and linebacker Kaden Johnson of St. Paul, Minn. For the most part, the Big Ten had a solid recruiting year, with 10 classes ranking among the top 40 in the country. The only four schools that did not >nish in the top 40 were Indiana (50th), North- western (52nd), Rutgers (68th) and Illi- nois (86th). ■ RIVALS BIG TEN* 1. Ohio State (5) 2. Michigan (11) 3. Penn State (14) 4. Nebraska (18) 5. Wisconsin (27) 6. Purdue (29) 7. Maryland (31) 8. Iowa (35) 9. Minnesota (37) 10. Michigan State (38) 11. Indiana (50) 12. Northwestern (52) 13. Rutgers (68) 14. Illinois (86) * National rankings in parenthesis The winning gene is one that runs in the family. Lambert-Smith is the nephew of Kam Chancellor, a two-time All-Pro safety and Super Bowl XLVIII champion with the Seattle Seahawks. McCain said the two share a "phenom- enal" relationship and that Lambert- Smith often relies on Chancellor when he has a question or is in need of ad- vice. "I think the one thing that Kam does great is that he didn't baby KeAndre through the process," McCain said. "He let Dre go through that adversity. That's the best way to go about it. Kam did a great job, letting him grow as a young man and as a person." While McCain said Lambert-Smith is a jokester who likes to laugh with his teammates, the wideout also shares with his uncle a knack for shining in big mo- ments. McCain recalled Maury's regional playo? game against Salem, then the No. 1 school in the area, when Lambert- Smith made a pair of crucial plays: >rst a wide receiver screen on which he streaked spectacularly across the >eld, and later a play on which he lined up at quarterback and kept the ball on a read- option, taking it 37 yards to the end zone. Maury won the game, 28-14, be- fore >nishing its undefeated season with two more victories and the state title. "Those two plays in that game just showed who KeAndre Lambert is," Mc- Cain said. "When the lights are big, the kid shows up, and no one can deny that. He always puts the team >rst, but when it's time, he shows up." ■ LAMBERT-SMITH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42

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