Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/458338
F E B R U A R Y 5 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 FaceTime conversations. One of Franklin's assistants, P.J. Mullen, would dial up a re- cruit, their face would flash across the big screens at the head of the room and Franklin would welcome them to Penn State live on camera – even if the feed was a little choppy at times. They did the same thing last year, too, and the staff is known to use FaceTime regularly to talk to recruits. It's a sign of the times. But it seems as though the NCAA is just finding out. "NCAA compliance officers issued a notice this past week where they were stating that it is allowable for college programs to FaceTime prospects," Gat- tis explained. "That just shows you how far ahead of the curve we are, because we've been doing that now for two years. "A lot more programs are seeing what we re doing and they're saying, we can do the same thing. We're kind of at the forefront of always mak- ing sure that we're pushing the enve- lope and maximizing our ability to brand our program and brand the suc- cess that we're having in recruiting." QUICK HITTERS Franklin confirmed that Penn State has two scholarships still available. If the Lions use those scholarships, their class will have 28 members, including the three early enrollees and graduate transfer Kevin Reihner. "Whether that's for trans- fers, whether that's for guys today who did not sign, we still have some scholarships available," Franklin said. "So, if anybody knows of anybody out there who wants to get a world-class education, wants to play big-time football, wants to have a great rela- tionship with their coaching staff and wants to be in an unbelievably sup- portive community, with the best fan base in America, let us know. Because we still have a few spots available." Taking possible attrition into account, Franklin said the Lions will probably have between 78 and 82 scholarship players on their roster in 2015. … Cor- nerback Garrett Taylor suffered an ACL injury last season. Smith said Taylor "is scheduled to be ready for camp. He's ahead of track right now. We just have to remind him to slow himself down." MAKING THE CALL Franklin welcomes Garrett Taylor to Penn State during a FaceTime conversa- tion on signing day. Photo by Tim Owen