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barbecue last summer, during which he spent most of his time in the film room with Bob Shoop instead of being outside with the other recruits. Josh Gattis recounted the same story earlier in the day. "We did a picnic and John, all he wanted to do was go in and watch film for three hours," Gattis said. "This guy studies football. So he's very mature. He's a very respected player. FACE TO FACE One of the more con- spicuous aspects of the fax machine cel- ebrations in the Lasch Building were the big-screen FaceTime conversations. One of Franklin's assistants, P.J. Mullen, would dial up a recruit, 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 Face- Time 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," Gattis 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 making sure that we're pushing the envelope and maxi- mizing our ability to brand our program and brand the success that we're having in recruiting." That branding effort has been so thor- ough that Penn State has even publi- cized its mistakes. While attempting to call Shareef Miller on signing day, some- one dialed a wrong number and Franklin ended up having a FaceTime conversa- tion with a Philadelphia social worker named Aleem Medley, who was on his way to work. "I guess we were off by a digit," Franklin told ESPN.com. Medley, a lifelong Nittany Lion fan and a former college quarterback at Ship- pensburg and Millersville, was thrilled to find himself talking to the Nittany Li- ons' head coach. "I think you've got the wrong player," he said during the minute-long video conversation. "But I'm a big fan, Coach. Huge fan." A video of their chat can be found on the Penn State Athletics website, gopsusports.com. ■ T H E B I G P I C T U R E MAKING THE CALL Franklin welcomes Ka- monte Carter to Penn State dur- ing a FaceTime conversation on signing day. Photo by Tim Owen

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