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Philadelphia defensive end Shareef Miller was expected to be one of those prospects. A:er announcing in early January that Penn State was his favorite, Miller picked up an o8er from Florida the following week. He also visited Arizona State Jan. 16-18 and is still trying to 7gure out where he will go for his 7:h and 7nal o9cial visit, which will take place Jan. 30-Feb. 1. He had originally planned to visit Miami that weekend, but a:er receiving the Gators' o8er, he was undecided about which Sunshine State school to check out. Safety John Petrishen of Pittsburgh is another notable prospect who is expected to be on campus that weekend. As with Miller, Petrishen's travel itinerary was in- complete as of this writing. He was sched- uled to visit Pitt Jan. 16-18 and is also going to visit Virginia Jan. 30-Feb. 1, the weekend a:er he travels to Penn State. However, Maryland and Northwestern are continuing to pursue Petrishen, and as of mid-January, he was still thinking about taking o9cial visits to at least one of those schools, and possibly both, at the end of the month. But he would have to miss school to do that, and for that reason, those visits are considered long shots. It appears that Penn State is the favorite to sign Petrishen. Most believe that Pitt is the Nittany Lions' top competitor, so it wouldn't be completely surprising if he were to make a verbal commitment to the Nittany Lion coaching sta8 while on cam- pus. Petrishen is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and is No. 21 overall in Pennsylvania. Finally, Penn State continues to pursue tight end Nick Bowers of Kittanning, Pa. The three-star prospect committed to Pittsburgh prior to Paul Chryst's departure and has stayed committed since the Pan- thers hired former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. Because he's still a member of Pitt's class, Bowers hasn't spoken publicly about his situation. But he did meet with Penn State defensive co- ordinator Bob Shoop Jan. 16 at Kittanning Senior High, one day a:er welcoming Nar- duzzi and Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem for a home visit. Bowers is expected to make his 7nal decision in the days following his o9cial visit to Penn State. ■ N ow that James Franklin and his as- sistants have begun their second full year at the helm of the Penn State football program, fans are start- ing to get a feel for their true potential as recruiters. Although it still isn't clear where this year's class will ultimately rank when signing day arrives Feb. 4, it looks as though Penn State will 7nish in the top 15 nationally. As far as I'm concerned, that's a job well done. Franklin and his sta8 are going to 7nish with a very good class, even though they saw sev- eral committed recruits change their minds and lost out on a few of their most prized prospects in the past few months. But as the saying goes, with success come expectations. When Penn State fans begin looking ahead to 2016, they are going to have very high hopes. And with good reason. Just look at what the sta8 has already done. With three four-star junior prospects already committed to the Class of 2016, Penn State is, without a doubt, o8 to its best start in the past decade, maybe its best start ever. In their previous 10 recruiting classes, the Nittany Lions only received two commitments from prospects who still had more than a year to go before their respective signing days. One of those commitments came two years ago when running back Mark Allen an- nounced for Penn State. The other early commitment came from line- backer Mike Hull, who was part of the Class of 2010. That's it. As of Jan. 15, the Nittany Lion sta8 had already extended an eye-catching 84 scholarship o8ers to prospects in the Class of 2016. To put that into per- spective, there were years in the past in which the sta8 didn't extend 84 of- fers throughout the entire 12- to 18- month recruiting cycle. And bear in mind that technically, the 2016 cycle hasn't even started yet. So there are going to be more o8ers to come. When you look more deeply at some of the numbers, 35 of those scholarship o8ers are to defensive and o8ensive linemen and are aimed at addressing projected weaknesses in the coming years. Of those prospects, 28 have earned either a four-star or 7ve-star ranking. When you compare all of this to where the sta8 stood just one year ago – when 90 percent of its focus was on simply holding onto as many prospects as it could in the frantic weeks leading up to signing day – there is a remarkable di8erence, one that should pay o8 as Penn State holds its Junior Day events in February and March. I cannot emphasize enough the im- portance of relationships in recruiting. Relationships are a crucial – and usu- ally unseen by the public – component of the recruiting process, one that goes a long way toward determining a pro- gram's success. Winning is important, of course. There's no denying that. But it's just as important for prospects to feel comfortable with the coaches who are pursuing them. That dynamic works to Penn State's advantage right now. Realistically, the Nittany Lions are probably a few years away from being able to win 10 or more games in a season, but when it comes to building relationships, these coaches don't take a backseat to any- one. Given the fact that they've now had an entire year to get a foot in the door, anything less than a top-10 class should be considered a disappoint- ment in 2016. Lions' 2016 class off to strong start

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