Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/399784
| Class wins national praise Expert says Lions' new staff 'should allow them to reach their full potential' FOLLOW RECRUITING ONLINE Visit bwi.rivals.com for updated news on PSU's scholarship offers and commitments. F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G I t was no secret when James Franklin was hired that recruiting was his forte, but what he and his assistants have done in the 2rst 10 months of their tenure at Penn State has surpassed even the most optimistic expectations. With a little over three months to go be- fore the Class of 2015 signs its letters of intent, the Nittany Lions 2nd themselves in arguably their best spot since the 1990s, even a4er the loss of four-star prospect Brandon Wimbush. They are well-posi- tioned to bolster their current class with the addition of a few more quality players, and even more important, they are setting themselves up favorably for next year. With 18 verbally committed prospects already on board – 11 have received four stars and seven have received three stars, making this the 10th-best class in Rivals.com's rankings – the sta3 will need roughly four or 2ve more four-star prospects to remain in the top 10, making the top 15 a realistic goal. But with only seven scholarships remaining, at maximum, the assistants are spending most of their time working toward next year. This is a pattern that programs such as Alabama and LSU have been using for years to stay a step ahead of their rivals. There's a case to be made that getting into this recruiting pattern is the most important thing Franklin and his sta3 can do to enhance the program's long-term health. Yes, even more important than getting to a New Year's Day bowl game or upsetting Ohio State. "It's not super surprising what Penn State has been able to do in recruiting so far," said Adam Friedman, Mid-Atlantic analyst for Rivals.com. "They had a lot of momentum coming o3 last year. They certainly had a better 2nish than most really expected on the 2eld, which helped give these recruits con2dence that Penn State would be back on top quicker than expected. Bill O'Brien deserves a lot of credit for injecting new life into the program and now, with James Franklin there, he's ALL ON THE LINE Jenkins is one of several highly recruit- ed offensive linemen in Penn State's 2015 recruit- ing class. Rivals.com