Blue White Illustrated

T he news surrounding the NCAA's decision to remove the bowl ban and reinstate scholarships at Penn State certainly stole the headlines in re- cent weeks, but James Franklin and his sta= were already hard at work on the recruiting trail before that took place. Now that the Sept. 1 deadline has passed, the sta= is allowed to call Class of 2015 prospects once a week, as well as communicate with 2016 players via social media and email. Because of that, the sta= combined to contact over 100 prospects in the ;rst two weeks of September. In addition to that, the sta= also hosted two elite uncommitted Class of 2016 prospects for the Akron game Sept. 6. O=ensive lineman J.P. Urquidez, who is from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md., was the highest-rated prospect there. A?er visiting Penn State in July, the 6-foot-6, 293-pounder le? with a strong impression of Penn State's fa- cilities and academic structure. When you factor in his growing relationship with the coaches, all that was le? for Urquidez and his family to see was the game-day atmosphere in Beaver Sta- dium. "It was really just a good time for me," Urquidez said. "I came in there with no expectations. I know it's a great school and everything, but I wasn't expecting anything speci;c. But once we got there, talked to some people, saw the atmosphere – the game, every- thing – it was just a great time." At the moment, Urquidez is focused on six schools: Penn State, LSU, Florida State, Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma. The four-star is set to visit Baylor Nov. 1, and he'll likely visit the four other programs in his top six before the season ends. However, as of now, we believe the Nittany Lions have an excellent chance of being one of the two or three schools that Urquidez ultimately de- cides between. He's then expected to make a ;nal decision anytime between November and early 2015. PSU also hosted wide receiver Trevon Diggs for the Akron game. Like Urquidez, Diggs has also earned a four-star ranking from Rivals.com. The Gaithersburg, Md., native is the brother of current Maryland star Stefon Diggs, so this won't be an easy pull for Franklin and his sta=, as the Terps currently lead. That said, the visit certainly helped Penn State's standing with Diggs. "As far as the school, I really like everything I saw, so it was a very in- teresting visit," said Diggs. "They have great fans, a real big stadium, so it's a good place to play in college. "The team played well too. Their quarterback, [Christian] Hackenberg, he really stood out to me. Just how calm he is throwing the ball, it looked like he could take a nap back there be- fore he throws it, so I really like seeing that kind of stu=." Penn State is also in an excellent po- sition with 2016 quarterback Jake Zem- biec. The 6-2, 205-pound four-star from Aquinas Institute in Rochester, N.Y., has already been on campus a few times. He is expected to visit again for the Northwestern game Sept. 27, and that will be his ;rst time seeing a game in Beaver Stadium. As of this writing, Zembiec holds 14 verbal o=ers, including from schools like Boston College, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Rutgers and UCF, in addition to Penn State. However, his father has made it clear that the Nittany Lions sit in an excellent posi- tion early on, which makes Zembiec someone to watch closely for a po- tential commitment at the end of Sep- tember. - R.S. ficial visit to Oregon Sept. 5-7, so the Ducks are expected to be a serious com- petitor, along with the in-state Bull- dogs. That said, he's always been clear about how comfortable he feels with Franklin and his assistants, and there is a good chance that they can persuade him to use an official visit for a game at Beaver Stadium later this season. As this staff has proven a few times al- ready this year, one visit can change everything. NICK BOWERS TE // Kittanning, Pa. // Kittanning Senior Bowers is currently committed to FIRST TAKE Bowers, who is committed to Pitt, attended PSU's 7-on-7 tournament in July with his high school team and put on a great showing. When PSU's scholarships were restored Sept. 8, the first offer went to the tight end. Tim Owen PSU maintains focus on 2016, hosts region's top junior talent

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