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alloons. It's one of the comments that still stands out from James Franklin's introductory press con- ference more than a year ago. So eager to acclimate himself to the State College area, he said he'd blow up balloons for your kid's backyard birthday party if that's what you wanted. A touch of hyperbole, maybe. Out- landish at best. C'mon, that's a lot of balloons. But, hey, it drew some laughs. Everyone certainly remembers the "Dominate the State" slogan, too, which quickly found its way onto T-shirts, tel- evision commercials and sound bites on local radio. Even though, at the time, it seemed as if he was going out on a limb there, too. Penn State is the biggest university in the state, yes, and with time to rekindle important relationships, consistently signing the state's best talent is possi- ble. But PSU hadn't necessarily been locking down the borders recently. This didn't seem as though it was going to happen overnight. In fact, since Rivals.com began track- ing commitments in 2002, Penn State has signed an average of only six in-state prospects per year, and only two of them were top-10 guys. Only once (2010) did Penn State sign more than five of the state's top 10, and last year, zero top-10 prospects chose PSU. "Which is, again, dramatic," Franklin said. Thirteen months later, on Feb. 4, he earned 11 signatures from seniors who played their high school football in Pennsylvania. It was the team's highest total in at least 12 years. Seven of those players were rated among the top 10 in- state prospects by Rivals, the most since Rivals started ranking players by state. And the four players who didn't make the top 10 – Nick Bowers, Jake Cooper, Kevin Givens and John Petrishen – each chose PSU over offers from Pittsburgh and Temple. Dominate? Check. "That's something we take great pride in," Franklin said. "We take great pride in the state of Pennsylvania." Franklin's college network plays a role. He's an alum of East Stroudsburg and a former student-athlete in the Pennsyl- vania Scholastic Athletic Conference, in which many of the state's traditional teachers' colleges compete. From that experience, he has close bonds formed with many administrators, educators and coaches in school districts across the state. "I think that helps," Franklin said. "There's a rapport there. There's trust there." He's also a Pennsylvania native, along with three of his assistants – Brent Pry (Altoona), Bob Shoop (Oakmont) and Terry Smith (Aliquippa). Even Sean Spencer played college football at Clari- on, a PSAC school. "It's hard to find any coaching staff in the country who represents their state as well as we do as far as [being] truly born in that state," said Josh Gattis, a North Carolina guy. In addition to having previous con- nections and roots dug deep, the coach- es have also put in the legwork since they were hired, visiting nearly every Pennsylvania high school that has a football team. "There's not a town, there's not a city, there's not an area in the state that's left unrecruited by our staff," Gattis added. "We take great pride in recruiting this state and developing relationships." When they visit these schools, too, it's not just to talk to the prospect. They stop by the secretary's office, meet with teachers, say hi to fellow students. It's a reason why they've found success so quickly. The recruiting effort has a residual ef- fect on the community, and that in- cludes up-and-coming prospects who attend the same schools. When 11 of the state's best players sign with one col- lege, younger kids notice. When that occurs, future recruiting classes benefit. "We hope there is an immediate re- turn on the success that we had in- state," Gattis said. "There's already a buzz. We're in a really good position with a lot of in-state players. I think as more in-state players see that more guys are staying home and representing their home state of Pennsylvania, [more will follow]." Penn State won't pigeonhole itself by focusing exclusively on area prospects. "We'll go nationally to get any kid, and we'll put an emphasis on getting the very best at each position," Smith said. "But we want to make sure our top- ranked kids in the region stay home." The Nittany Lions are already off to a strong start in targeting the state's best prospects in the Class of 2016. They have offered 11 Pennsylvania recruits thus far and they find themselves in sol- id position with all but about one of them. They even have secured a com- mitment from the state's top-ranked athlete for 2016 – four-star running back Miles Sanders from Pittsburgh. If there was one part missing and holding PSU back from completely dominating the state this year, it was just that – the state's top-rated player. The staff certainly tried. Jordan White- head visited PSU several times through- out the recruiting process, and even when he verbally committed to Pitt dur- ing the season, PSU didn't stop its pur- suit of the defensive back from Monaca until he signed on the dotted line earlier this month. Otherwise, it was mission accom- plished for Franklin and Co. His "Domi- nate the State" mantra caused a stir at the time, but after one complete recruit- ing cycle, he's locked it down. And the clamp could be even tighter next year. Still waiting on some of those bal- loons, though. ■ LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M Blue state B

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