Blue White Illustrated

as it was anything else to set myself up for beyond college." For Penn State, the impact of Wimbush's de-commitment will reverberate for a while. Quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne and a few other assistants are collecting film and transcripts of potential signees, and the Lions are in excellent position with junior quarterbacks Jake Zembiec of Rochester, N.Y., and Brandon McIlwain of Newtown, Pa. Both appear to have a higher ceiling than the majority of senior quarterbacks who might seriously con- sider the Nittany Lions with only a few months to go before signing day, so that should factor into the staff's eventual de- cision. At defensive tackle, Penn State was al- ways pursuing multiple prospects, so not much will change there. Even if McLean were to rea=rm his commitment, the Lions will be looking to add one or two additional interior defensive linemen. ■ Coach sees bright future for Kelly Blue White Illustrated's Ryan Snyder recently caught up with Wilbur Valdez, who coaches outside line- backer Daiquan Kelly at Union City (N.J.) High. In September, Kelly switched his verbal commitment from Syracuse to Penn State. Here's what Valdez had to say about the newest member of the Nittany Lions' 2015 re- cruiting class: Can you recap how much contact you and Daiquan have had with Penn State over the past few months? Was this a situation in which they con- tinuously stayed in touch even after his commitment to Syracuse, or did it come out of nowhere? During the spring, we had our juniors who have some offers take a look at a bunch of different schools. They went on a tour. They saw Rutgers, Syracuse, Penn State, Boston College, Old Do- minion, Towson and some other schools, too. In Daiquan's eyes, when he went to Penn State, you could tell that's where he really wanted to be, but unfortunately, they weren't ready to offer at the time. They wanted to see him at camp. He absolutely destroyed the camp. This is coming directly from the [Penn State] coaches. He ran a 4.5 40. He excelled in all the drills and was really coachable. They said they wanted to offer him then, but they just had to wait. So, you know, they were just kind of sitting on it, explaining that this was a numbers game, but asked Daiquan to be patient and be chill. He ended up running out of patience and gave Syracuse a verbal, but basi- cally, he was still open a little bit. He wanted to take some looks at other places. He was going to take an official to Rutgers. He was going to take an of- ficial to Michigan State and probably Nebraska, but when it came to fruition that the school he wanted to really go to was going to offer, that's when that all changed. What does Daiquan bring to the table? What stands out about him to you? He's 6-3, 210 pounds right now, and he can really run. He's very versatile. He can play a lot of different positions. He can be that middle-of-the-field, cover-three defender who's rangy and covers his middle third, or he can be that outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 scheme who comes off the edge or pass drops into the flat. There are a lot of different things that he can bring to a team. He has a combi- nation of size, speed and athleticism that is very rare in kids today. Usually, they're either one or the other. He can be a true defensive back with the right coaching and all that, or a true outside linebacker who can cover the receivers and backs also. What does Daiquan bring to a team off the field? Is he a natural leader? Is he all business all the time, or does he try to lighten the mood in practice and workouts? He's a kid with a ton of energy. He absolutely loves football and he makes sure that he and all of his teammates are going to have a good time out there. Whether it's in the weight room, on the field or in conditioning, he's the kind of kid who always has a smile on his face and gives you his best. He sets a great example for the rest of the team when it comes to getting down to business, but also making sure you're having fun and enjoying it, too. I think that has a lot to do with why he's been able to improve so much over the years. The sky's the limit for him. I don't think he's even close to peaking. Penn State parts ways with DB Hartsfield Penn State has rescinded its scholar- ship o

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