Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1499919
6 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State enjoyed a hot streak on the recruiting trail this spring, and the epicenter for much of the Nittany Lions' activity in April was … Wisconsin? That's right, the Badger State, America's Dairyland, the Cheese State and (this one was news to me) the Copper State. Before this year, Penn State had landed just two players from Wisconsin during James Franklin's head coaching tenure. The Lions made a great pull late in the 2015 cycle with defensive tackle Robert Windsor and picked up a pledge from current redshirt freshman tight end Jerry Cross in July 2020. But that was the extent of it until April 18, when Penn State added a commitment from Donovan Harbour, an interior offensive lineman from Catholic Memorial in Waukesha who had received a four-star grade in the On3 Industry Ranking. Later that same month, the Lions earned a commit- ment from one of Harbour's team- mates, four-star running back Corey Smith, along with a pledge from four- star offensive tackle Garrett Sexton of Arrowhead High in Hartland. There are several reasons why Penn State has enjoyed such surprising success in Wisconsin lately, includ- ing a staffer with roots in the state. The name Eric Raisbeck isn't going to sound familiar to most Nittany Lion fans, but he's been around for a while. Raisbeck joined the Penn State staff as a special teams analyst and analytics coordinator in March 2020. His previ- ous stop was at Utah State, where he was the right-hand man for current PSU special teams coordinator Stacy Collins. Raisbeck also worked with Collins at the South Dakota School of Mines in 2012 and '13. Before Utah State, Raisbeck was the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Wisconsin-Platteville, recruiting southern Wisconsin for the Division III program. He was previ- ously a three-year letterwinner at Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he played tight end. Raisbeck is originally from the Madi- son area (Middleton High School), and it's a good starting point for the Nit- tany Lions in the state. He had coach- ing stops at Belleville High and Madi- son West High early in his career. Described as a diligent recruiter, Raisbeck has been a point of contact for the players Penn State has pursued in that area, and some other staffers have loose connections in the state. Tight ends coach Ty Howle was among the first to reach out to Sexton's coach, having known him from his days at Western Illinois. Having a staffer with roots in a dif- ferent area helps, but it's obviously just one part of the equation. Penn State's recruiting staff has expanded in the past few years and, in turn, the Nit- tany Lions have been able to broaden the scope of what they do. Analysts are able to recruit, and that has changed not only how much contact schools can have with prospects, but also the vari- ety of personalities you can throw at a prospect. Years ago, assistant coaches were re- sponsible for a geographic area and/or their position. If you had someone who wasn't relatable or charismatic, you would probably suffer. Now, in addition to full-time coaches, there are analysts, grad as- sistants and recruiting staffers who can maintain contact. If a prospect doesn't relate to one of those people, it's not an insurmountable obstacle; the others can pick up the slack. The elephant in the room regarding PSU's recent success in Wisconsin is how the three Penn State commits have been recruited by the in-state Badgers. Harbour and Smith were both offered by Wisconsin's previous staff, but nei- ther seemed to elicit the same interest from new coach Luke Fickell. Sexton was offered by the Badgers a few days before he committed to Penn State. Nobody from PSU's staff walked into a meeting and said that it was time to raid Wisconsin. It is part of a routine coaching-change protocol, however. The Nittany Lions go through commit lists of schools that have changes at the top, changes at coordinator, etc. Penn State did it with Wisconsin's commit- ment list when Paul Chryst was fired last fall and then went through the Cincinnati commit list when Fickell took the Wisconsin job in November. Nothing much came of it, but it was a worthwhile effort. Wisconsin is unlikely to develop into a reliable pipeline for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions did a nice job of expanding their territory this year, casting the net and following through. A bigger staff and a more thorough ap- proach have helped the Lions get into areas where they typically don't pop up. It's likely a low-percentage game, and that's fine. If there are difference- makers that come as part of that low percentage, the approach will have been worth it. ■ Four-star offensive tackle Garrett Sexton of Arrowhead High in Hartland was one of three Wisconsin prospects who committed to the Nittany Lions in April. PHOTO COURTESY ON3 Penn State Makes Inroads In Unfamiliar Recruiting Terrain JUDGMENT CALL O P I N I O N SEAN FITZ SEAN.FITZ@ON3.COM