Blue White Illustrated

T he recruiting process has its ups and downs, as every Division I prospect discovers. That was especially true for future Nittany Lion Torrence Brown. After a breakout sophomore season, the Tuscaloosa native started to gain notoriety as one of the top up-and-coming prospects in Alabama. At 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, Brown had the kind of frame that led many to believe he was about to develop into a blue-chip defensive end or outside line- backer. Some of the nation's premier pro- grams were tracking his progress. "After my sophomore year and going into my junior year, I was definitely on the verge of peaking and getting some offers," Brown said. "I was getting a lot of looks from basically all the SEC schools. I had some Big 12 schools, some ACC schools. I really thought I was on the verge of getting some offers." Brown lived up to those expectations at the start of his junior year. But when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee just three games into the season, recruiters quickly began losing interest. The period right after his injury was one of the lowest points in his life. "It was rough, man. I was really bummed out," he said. "A couple schools kept in touch, but you could tell it was different. You could tell that they weren't as interested as they once were, and that was tough." Brown's goal had always been to play at college football's highest level, and his ambitions sustained him throughout the rehabilitation process. But he quickly dis- covered that he was basically starting over. In order to achieve his goal, he needed to have a big senior season at Tuscaloosa Academy. It was going to be a make-or- break stretch of games, and he prepared accordingly. In the end, the season went just as he had hoped it would. "I had around 105 tackles, a couple of forced fumbles, a cou- ple of sacks. I had one of my best seasons yet," he said. "But still, a lot of those schools that were originally showing in- terest were already filled up or had offers out to other guys already. "It was weird. There were definitely a few times when I thought I wasn't going to play for a big school, that I'd have to settle for a smaller school." On Jan. 19, that's exactly what Brown did, verbally committing to Southern Miss. While he was grateful for the opportunity, he found himself reminiscing about those major-college dreams that now seemed destined to go unfulfilled. "When you go from getting attention from Georgia, Alabama, those kinds of schools, but then because of an injury, get offers from Georgia State and South Alabama, that's tough," he said. "On one hand, you appreciate what they're offering you. But on the other hand, I couldn't help but think about what could have happened if I hadn't gotten hurt." What Brown didn't know at the time was that James Franklin was examining the depth chart he had just inherited at Penn State and was realizing that the Nit- tany Lions needed help at both defensive end and linebacker. Brown was a good fit because of his versatility, but the Lions still had a few prospects ahead of him on their board. However, when Lloyd Tubman backed out of his commitment, Brown got the offer he coveted and wasted little time jumping on it. "The coaches offered me the day before signing day, which gave me something to think about. I had just committed to Southern Miss, and I really appreciated that, but this was Penn State we're talking about. This is one of the best schools in the nation. So I slept on it, but I didn't really have to think about it. I ended up committing the next day." A few weeks ago, Brown saw his future home for the first time when he took an official visit to University Park for the Blue-White Game. Those two days on campus left him in awe, reassuring him that he had made the right decision. "I loved it up there," he said. "I expected it to be great, but it really ended up ex- ceeding my expectations. The town, the stadium, just the whole environment down there – I loved that town. It's really nice. "After seeing all that, I really mean it when I say I've never been so motivated in my life now. After everything I went through, after all the ups and downs, I've never been so motivated to prove everyone wrong for backing out when I got hurt." ■ HIGHLY MOTIVATED Schools soured onTorrence Brown after his injury. He's out to prove they made a mistake THE BROWN FILE S T A T I S T I C S Played four positions as a senior – defensive end, linebacker, running back and tight end – finishing with 105 tackles, three sacks, 746 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. H O N O R S Rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. ... Was named to his All-Area team. |

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