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F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G Franklin off to fast start New Penn State head coach flips three prospects during first 3 days of work | t was his first day on the job, and James Franklin had already landed his first recruits for Penn State. In fact, just a few hours after his introductory press conference, the new Nittany Lion head coach was on the phone, convincing two recruits to follow his lead to Happy Valley. As of this writing, Franklin had secured verbal commitments from defensive end Lloyd Tubman and offensive linemen Chance Sorrell and Brendan Brosnan, all of whom had been committed to him when he was head coach at Vanderbilt. He's off to a fast start. Tubman, a 6-foot-3, 228-pound threestar prospect from Louisville, Ky., was the first recruit Franklin flipped. "I think he called at like 9 [Saturday night], Tubman recalled. "I just remember " that I was watching the NFL playoff game. Coach Franklin called me saying that he's just checking back in with me, that he wanted to keep in contact with me because we both have such a strong connection with each other. Then he described his situation, how he's at Penn State now, even how he answered some of his questions during his press conference. We talked about that entire situation, how he made that change. "Then he let me know that if I was interested in working with him still, that I could have an opportunity there at Penn State. He didn't push me or anything, but just let me know that his vision is still the same – his vision for the future and for me. I told him then that I was with him 100 percent. " Franklin's next phone call was to Sorrell, I CHANCE SORRELL "Franklin made it feel like we could really trust him. Of course he can trust us. He has our back, and we have his back." a 6-6, 265-pound three-star offensive tackle prospect who spent most of his high school career as a tight end. A native of Middletown, Ohio, Sorrell had committed to the Commodores in June, mostly because of his relationship with their head coach. When Franklin asked Sorrell to follow him to State College, it wasn't a complicated a decision, but it did catch him offguard. Sorrell was watching television in the family room when a new Pennsylvania number called his phone. "Me, my mom and my dad pretty much stopped everything, turned the TV off and all went into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table," Sorrell said. "Coach Franklin asked how I was doing. Of course, he had been really busy with everything that's going on. But he said, 'We have a few scholarships here. … We'd love to have you and we're offering you a scholarship here to Penn State.' "A second after that, me, my mom and my dad were like, 'Yeah, we'll commit to you right now over the phone.' " One of the first recruits to whom Franklin reached out, Sorrell said his relationship with the Nittany Lions' new head coach has only strengthened. The phone call, he said, "made me feel good. It made my family feel good and it made it feel like we could really trust [Franklin]. Of course he can trust us. He has our back, and we have his back." Unlike Tubman, who has yet to see Happy Valley, Sorrell had traveled to Penn State once before for an unofficial basketball visit in September 2009. Although he visited as a young hoops recruit, Sorrell FOLLOW RECRUITING ONLINE Visit bwi.rivals.com for updated news on PSU's scholarship offers and commitments.

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