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won't be released until this coming fall, but Swi: is expected to be a Rivals100 prospect. In fact, some believe he has 7ve- star potential. Swi: said he came away from his visit with a positive impression of Penn State. "I spoke to Coach [Josh] Gattis a lot," he said. "I also checked in with Coach [Charles] Hu8. It was real nice. Coach Gattis was telling me that he wants me go see other places and make sure I do what's best for me. I sat down with Coach Hu8, too. We actually saw a little 7lm and he gave me some pointers to take back to St. Joe's Prep." Penn State also extended an o8er to one of the Class of 2017 prospects in attendance that day. Linebacker Dylan Rivers of Sherando High School in Stephens City, Va., began talking to Brent Pry midway through the season and also attended the Ohio State game in October. A:er getting a taste of the Penn State football experi- ence, he made it very clear that he was hoping to receive an o8er. "I went the whole day and they didn't o8er me," Rivers said. "So, toward the end, we all ran out of the tunnel, like the football players do, and right when we did that, Coach Pry pulled me aside and asked me to wait around for 7ve minutes in the locker room so we can talk for a minute. We went to the locker room then and that's when he told me they wanted to o8er me a full scholarship to Penn State." Rivers said he was very happy to receive that o8er. "I learned a lot that day about football and academics," he said. "They have a great combination there. It's a school I'm very interested in." Another noteworthy prospect is defen- sive end Micah Parsons of Central Dauphin High in Harrisburg, Pa. Parsons is only a freshman, but he already stands 6-foot- 3, 217 pounds and is very athletic. He made a dazzling debut last fall, totaling 113 tackles and 17 sacks. He is likely to re- ceive a lot of attention from college coaches in the coming years, so James Franklin decided to get out in front of his local competitors by extending a verbal o8er in November. This past visit was his second to Penn State. He was also on hand for the Ohio State game in October. ■ Lions pursue nation's top kicker Kicker Quinn Nordin is still nearly a year away from signing a letter of intent, and it's likely he will receive additional scholarship o8ers before February 2016. But he says he's narrowed his list to two schools and is closing in on a decision. Ranked the No. 1 kicker in the Class of 2016 by KornblueKicking.com, Nordin picked up scholarship o8ers from Iowa and Penn State in late January and has put the two Big Ten programs at the top of his list. The Rockford, Mich., native visited Iowa Jan. 17 and received an o8er from the Hawkeyes just over a week later. A day before the Hawkeyes extended their o8er, however, Penn State came through with one of its own. Nordin visited University Park the following weekend – the same week- end that the Nittany Lions played host to many of their top 2016 recruiting targets. "Going down to Penn State, they had one of the best setups that I've seen," Nordin said. "They really made all the families of the re- cruits and the recruits really feel top-notch. They laid out everything, they had the jerseys set up. It was awesome. It was sweet." Nordin's father has accompanied him on all of his visits, including a trip to Penn State last November for the Lions' regular-season 7nale against Michigan State. In January, when he visited Iowa and Penn State, his mother went along, too. "My mom has a huge impact on my deci- sion," Nordin said. "Really, if she likes a school, that's awesome. She loves both Penn State and Iowa, and that's huge for me. The two schools that I've chosen as my 7nalists are two schools that she approves of and the two schools that she's been to." Special teams coordinator Charles Hu8 has taken the initial lead on Nordin's recruitment, and the pair have built a strong rapport over the phone and through social media the past few months. During his uno9cial visit Jan. 31, Nordin and his par- ents had an opportunity to further discuss his college options in a formal setting with Hu8 and also head coach James Franklin. "It was really good because Penn State had o8ered me, so when I went down there, we were able to sit down with Coach Franklin and Coach Hu8," Nordin said. "My mom talked to him as a coach, but also as a dad and a father of 120 boys, so that was really good for her to sit down. I'll be in good hands wherever I end up." Nordin has also received scholarship o8ers from Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan, and it's likely that other schools will follow suit. Duke, Michigan State and Pitt have increased their contact, and programs from the Southeastern Con- ference, such as Texas A&M, have shown interest, as well. But Nordin said he isn't interested in venturing too far from his roots. "I'm born and raised in Michigan and I'm a Midwest boy," he said. "So I'll for sure be staying in the Big Ten without a doubt in my mind." Nordin added that while he doesn't know exactly when he will make a commit- ment, it could happen before spring arrives. "Maybe by the end of [February]," he said. "That's not too soon, but that's going to give me enough time to sit back, relax and get to know the coaching sta8s a little more, understand them." – TIM OWEN A LEG UP Nordin visited Penn State on the weekend of the Michigan State game. Photo by Tim Owen

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