Blue White Illustrated

FOOTBALL RECRUITING Receivers choose Nittany Lions Apke, Thompkins and Godwin among 4 recent verbals | ne look at Penn State's depth chart and you might reasonably assume that wide receiver is not a recruiting priority this year. Of the Nittany Lions' seven scholarship wideouts, the only senior is Brandon Moseby-Felder. But the coaches know their roster much better than any outside observer, and Bill O'Brien probably wasn't worried about contradicting the conventional wisdom when he accepted three recent commitments from receiver prospects. The first came on April 13 when three-star prospect Troy Apke from Mt. Lebanon, Pa., decided to end his recruitment during an unofficial visit to Penn State with his parents. He passed up offers from such programs as Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Kentucky and Pittsburgh. "I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now, at least three or four weeks," Apke said. "Penn State has been my favorite school for a while now, so I was just trying to think of what other schools could potentially offer and if I would like them more than Penn State. "When I really thought about it, Penn State just had the entire package. It was the right fit, so I figured, why not just get this over with? I couldn't see myself anywhere else." Apke visited Penn State in February for a junior day and came away with great things to say. Still, many believed that Pitt was the team to beat. That was because his father played linebacker for the Panthers and his former high school coach is now part of Paul Chryst's staff. But Apke said the family O connections didn't influence his decision. "My parents don't care where I go," he said. "This is my decision. They're definitely not forcing me to go anywhere." De'Andre Thompkins also caught some fans and media off guard when he joined Penn State's 2014 class. He recently earned offers from Notre Dame and Clemson, two programs that he was openly excited about. So when he informed O'Brien of his decision to become a Nittany Lion, it came as a surprise. "If you would have asked me during the drive up to Penn State, I would have told you that I wasn't going to commit that weekend," said Thompkins, a native of Swansboro, N.C. "Penn State was definitely my favorite going into [the visit], but I was also getting interest from a bunch of new schools, really good schools like Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame. "But then, when I got there, that's when I realized that as good as those schools are, Penn State will still be the right fit for me. I knew about Troy's commitment and I knew the staff couldn't wait forever, especially with the scholarship limitations, so that's when I really realized that no matter what, Penn State just has the whole package and I can't pass this up." After two solid performances on the combine circuit – in which he ran 4.39- and 4.41-second times in the 40-yard dash – Thompkins has been touted as one of the fastest-rising prospects in the nation this spring. He was finally beginning to gain the attention that he knew he deserved, but he decided to not wait for more of- Tim Owen CATCHING ON Godwin, a four-star prospect, was the third wide receiver to verbally commit to Penn State within 10 days. fers to materialize and verbally committed to Penn State during an unofficial visit with his father and coach for the Blue-White Game. Thompkins said the Nittany Lions are a great fit on the field, but it's actually what Penn State offers off the field – the academic and social environment – that helped make University Park his top choice. His coach at Swansboro, Tim Laspada, praised O'Brien and his staff for doing "a tremendous job at bringing in character kids. I've met Christian Hackenberg, Adam Breneman, Garrett Sickels. Then I just met Mark Allen and

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