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Pittsburgh, but his actions over the past few months have made it clear that he has real interest in the Nittany Lions. A:er committing to Pitt in January, Bowers took an uno9cial visit to Penn State in the spring. He then returned to State College in July for Penn State's 7- on-7 tournament with his team. There, he put on one of the best performances of any prospect at all of the camps this summer. After building a relationship with Bowers over the past few months, Penn State offered him on Sept. 10, just two days after the NCAA's decision. With the depth that PSU currently has at tight end, adding another is not a re- quirement in this year's class, but this appears to be a situation where Bowers is simply too good to pass up. Only time will tell if he sticks to his commitment to Pitt, but I believe Franklin and his as- sistants wouldn't have made the move to offer him if they didn't like their chances at earning his signature on signing day. MATTHEW BURRELL OL // Woodbridge, Va. // C.D. Hylton Burrell has been Penn State's top target along the o8ensive line for months now. The four-star has kept his true feelings to himself throughout the process, but it does appear that he's still open to the majority of schools that have o8ered. One thing that Penn State has in its favor is his relationship with four-star defen- sive tackle Adam McLean. The two have become close friends over the past few years, as they would travel together to visit di8erent schools before McLean committed to Penn State. For now, I believe Penn State has work to do with Burrell, but as mentioned pre- viously, Burrell has been very tough to get a true read on. I do expect him to visit PSU for the Ohio State game Oct. 25, but whether he uses an o9cial visit is still up in the air. I also think there's a good chance Penn State o8ers one or two ad- ditional o8ensive linemen in the next month or two. If it does, that could indi- cate that PSU is on the outside looking in with Burrell. RICKY DeBERRY LB // Richmond, Va. // St. Christopher's Following his uno9cial visit to Penn State July 19, Franklin and his assistants have really improved their stock with DeBerry. Just a month or so before that visit, it looked as if he didn't have much interest, but now the Nittany Lions are in his top eight, along with Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia and Virginia Tech. I be- lieve PSU has an excellent chance of be- ing one of his top three or four schools once he ultimately decides. DeBerry recently said that he would not use an o9cial visit for Penn State, mainly because he lives within driving distance, but he and his family are set to take an uno9cial visit for October's Ohio State game. The fact that he has the op- portunity to play as a freshman should really help. I thought PSU was a longshot even a:er he released his top eight, but a:er talking to both DeBerry and his fa- ther in recent weeks, I'm beginning to believe that PSU has a real shot here. MINKAH FITZPATRICK DB // Jersey City, N.J. // St. Peter's Prep Fitzpatrick is currently committed to Alabama, but Penn State is absolutely a player here. The 7ve-star took an uno9- cial visit to State College with his parents Aug. 9. Since then, they've remained quiet when it comes to speaking with the media, but multiple contacts have made it clear that they feel as if the Nittany Li- ons have a serious chance to earn Fitz- patrick's signature on signing day. He plans to make it back to Penn State for an o9cial visit later in the season, al- though, as of this print, that date hadn't been set. Additionally, there's a chance he takes an o9cial visit to Florida State at some point this season, too. The Seminoles could de7nitely become con- tenders as well, but the fact that he con- tinues to regularly speak with PSU's coaching sta8 bodes well. SHAREEF MILLER DE // Philadelphia // George Washington Penn State cooled on Miller in late spring a:er securing commitments from both Ryan Buchholz and Jonathan Hol- land, but it's beginning to look as though Miller is back on the radar now that extra scholarships are available. Assistant Josh Gattis visited Miller at his school Sept. 12. Miller also had a long talk with Franklin a day or two a:er the NCAA's announcement. During that conversa- tion, Franklin made it clear that his sta8 will be recruiting Miller throughout the season, but as of this print, he still didn't Committed recruits talk bowl games, scholarships Once news broke reporting that Penn State's bowl ban had been immediately li:ed and it can re- turn to its full complement of 85 scholarships in 2015, BWI's Ryan Snyder hit the phones. He caught up with most of the recruits who are verbally commit- ted to Penn State's Class of 2015 in order to guage their reaction to the announcement. Here's what they had to say. "It's great that they got their scholarship and bowl games back. It must suck playing games knowing you don't have a shot at the national championship, or at least a bowl game. Also, with the scholarships back and the great recruiting job Coach [James] Franklin and the staff does, it's going to take PSU to the next level." SAQUON BARKLEY "I think they are going to have a

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