Blue White Illustrated

Penn State landed the highest-rated prospect of its Class of 2015 on May 6, when Rivals100 o7ensive tackle Sterling Jenkins verbally com- mitted on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. Once the craziness of his evening settled down, Blue White Illustrated's Tim Owen caught up with Jenkins for a one-on-one conversation about his recruitment. You've had o&ers from all over the place, so tell us about what it's like to have this weight o& your shoulders. A year ago around this time, I got my 5rst o7er. I just would never have thought back then that I would commit in a year, just because I always thought I'd want to wait as late as possible and make it as dramatic as possible – the most media attention and stu7. Then as I've been talking to my coach and family, I really wanted to make sure people knew about how good of a place I was going to so that I could send my thanks to the people who had helped me. Being able to thank them for 5nalizing my decision is why I made it now. It makes me feel very con5dent in my decision. A year ago, Michigan was one of the schools at the top of your list. Ohio State has always been there. But Penn State seemed to come on strong a'er James Franklin was hired. How did your involvement with Penn State start and how did it evolve to where you are today? I've tried to give a sel6ess look with how I've dealt with things. I got all this [attention] from the Rivals camp [last June], even though I didn't do that well. It was a shock to me. I didn't feel like I deserved it. More guys kept coming in and I kept talking to more coaches, and really Michigan was one of the 5rst big schools. They were one of the 5rst big schools I heard about giving me an o7er. So I was really excited about that and what they had to o7er, and I wanted to go out there. Through the season, I watched them. But even before Penn State and Ohio State became two schools that I chose to [focus] on, I feel like looking back, that one of the main moments that really started this whole Penn State thing was a8er the Penn State-Michigan game last year. I was looking down in the Beaver Stadium [media room from the recruit- ing lounge a8er the game] and I saw all Jenkins feels 'very confident' in decision to attend PSU Q&A Tommy Kraemer is a Class of 2016 offensive tackle from Cincinnati Elder High who is shaping up to become one of the most highly touted prospects in the region for the next recruiting cycle. And Penn State has its foot in the door early. While the Nittany Lions first extended a scholarship offer several weeks ago, Kraemer and offensive line coach Herb Hand have a relationship that dates back nearly a year. "He recruited me when he was at Vanderbilt," Kraemer said. "He con- tinued recruiting me now that he's at Penn State. We didn't talk much, but I congratulated him on how great a re- cruiting class they have. He talks about all the good stuff at Penn State, other than the football program. He really wants me to come up and visit sometime this summer." Kraemer hadn't set up a visit to Penn State as of this writing but was eyeing a potential trip for summer camp. "I haven't checked out the dates of the camp yet, but I really want to go up and check one of those out," he said. Ohio State appears to be an early fa- vorite for Kraemer. But in addition to the Buckeyes, he also holds offers from Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Ken- tucky and Wake Forest. Some of those programs are standing out early, as is another school that has yet to offer. "I guess we have a solid relationship with the Ohio State coaches. Also, I'm pretty close with the Duke offensive line coach. I really liked what they have going down there when I visited [in February]," he said. "I really like the Boston College offensive line coach, too, so I want to check them out a little more." Penn State is another school that he's considering, mostly due to his re- lationship with Hand. "The second they were [hired] at Penn State, they started recruiting me," he said. "There was no break at all. It's really com- fortable talking to them. It didn't seem any different. It was the same thing as how they [recruited] at Van- derbilt." So what's next for the 6-foot-5, 280-pound lineman? "I'm actually taking a visit to USC and UCLA in the very first week of June," he said. "We're going on vacation in Hawaii and we're stopping in L.A. for a day, so we thought we'd check them out while we're there." – TIM OWEN 2016 offensive lineman interested in Nittany Lions KRAEMER

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