Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 4 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M like he did in the opener at Wisconsin. "He recognizes stuff on the move, as we're in the game, as we're making plays," Brown said. "He recognizes what's going on and he sees the routes they want [to use]. It's almost like he's in the opposing offensive coordinator's mind." A year from now, the 6-1, 200-pound Brisker will most likely be putting that talent to use in the NFL. For now, though, he's using it to Penn State's advantage — and to Brown's, too. The way Franklin sees it, Brisker's ex- perience has helped Brown get the most out of his tenure with the Nittany Lions, which will most likely continue into the 2022 season since he has the option of returning for one more year. "He's kind of learning from Jaquan, because Jaquan is a year ahead of him," Franklin said. "I think those things have been helpful for Tig. They have a lot of similarities in their backgrounds and how they got here. "I think that Lackawanna has done a tremendous job. Coach Duda has done a tremendous job there, and these guys are prepared and ready to compete at a high level. "Everybody's journey is different, but those guys have come in here and really taken it to a whole other level, and I'm proud of them. In a lot of ways, they've been a support system for each other, and I think the closer you are as a team and as a family, it helps with the commu- nication and the understanding of how to interact on the field together, too. Those things, I think, really help those two." ■ When James Franklin took over Penn State's football program in 2014, the Nittany Lions didn't have an especially strong relationship with Lackawanna Col- lege, even though the Scranton-based school fielded one of the nation's more successful junior college teams year in and year out. "There wasn't a great history and tradition between the two institutions," Franklin said, "which made no sense to me." Franklin was well-acquainted with Mark Duda, Lackawanna's longtime head coach; Duda was a Maryland graduate, and Franklin had spent eight seasons on the Terrapins' staff during two stints in College Park, the second as the team's offensive coordinator. So the Nittany Lions' new coach made it a priority to build a more collaborative relationship. That work has since paid major divi- dends for Penn State. In 2015, the Lions landed offensive lineman Paris Palmer, a four-star pros- pect who went on to start 14 games in his two seasons at PSU. He started three games at left tackle in 2016 before suf- fering a season-ending injury in Week 10 at Indiana and missing out on Penn State's late-season sprint to the Big Ten Championship Game and Rose Bowl. Palmer's signing opened up the flood- gates. Penn State has since inked five more Lackawanna players, four of whom are members of the 2021 team, and added a specialist as a walk-on. The Lackawanna contingent includes senior safeties Jaquan Brisker and Ji'Ayir Brown, senior guard Anthony Whigan and senior wide receiver Norval Black. Brisker and Brown have each started all six games so far, while Whigan started the opener at left guard and has seen action in three games even with Harvard transfer Eric Wilson having taken over the starting job. In addition, senior walk-on Bradley King is backing up punter Jordan Stout this season. Brisker will be headed to the NFL after the 2021 season, and several of his fellow Lackawanna transfers may be playing their final season at Penn State as well. But the pipeline that brought those players to PSU is showing no signs of drying up. There are two Lackawanna players in the Nittany Lions' 2022 recruiting class: offensive lineman J.B. Nelson and defensive back Tyrece Mills. Both received three-star ratings from Rivals.com. When Penn State signed Brown and Black in December 2019, Franklin said there were several advantages to pursu- ing Lackawanna players. The first was that because they were a few years older than signees coming straight from high school, they tended to have a level of maturity that helped them adapt to a new environment. Another advantage was that they were in a hurry to make an impact at the Power Five level. "They probably have a little bit more of a sense of urgency," Franklin said, "because most of them have at least two years, but no more than three years." Franklin also said he saw Lackawanna College as a key facet of Penn State's in-state recruiting efforts, noting that the Nittany Lions were "blessed and fortu- nate" to have such a high-level program located less than three hours away from campus. "We would like to sign the best players out of Lackawanna every single year," he said. "They have a bunch of them. It's something that we're committed to doing. We look at it as being very similar to signing the best players out of the state from a high school perspective. I think that's a real advantage." — Matt Herb Lackawanna Connection Boosts Nittany Lions' Program Senior Anthony Whigan was the Nittany Lions' starting left guard in their season opener against Wisconsin. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL