Blue White Illustrated

W ith the addition of Shaka Toney, Cameron Brown and Quinn Nordin in July, and Karamo Dioubate in August, Penn State's Class of 2016 was at 19 commitments heading into the season. As of mid-August, it appeared as though the coaching staff was planning to take roughly 23 prospects in this year's recruiting class, but the final figure will be impacted by the number of current players who for- go their final year of eligibility. What follows is a breakdown of the top defensive prospects who we believe James Franklin and his assistants are pursuing as they look to round out the Class of 2016. With Dioubate, a defen- sive lineman, having joined the class, the focus will be on linebackers and defen- sive backs. We expect the sta9 to 8nish o9 with the best prospects available. BRENDAN FERNS LB // 6-2 // 222 St. Clairsville, Ohio St. Clairsville OFFERS Arizona, Cincinnati, Georgia, Indiana, Kent State, Kentucky, Mary- land, Michigan State, Mississippi, Ne- braska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Pitts- burgh, Stanford, Texas A&M, USC, Van- derbilt, Virginia, West Virginia QUOTABLE Michael Ferns, Brendan's father, following a visit this spring: "I can de8nitively say that this visit we took to Penn State was the most well- thought-out visit I've ever been on. From the moment we got there to the moment we le:, everything was excel- lent. We learned so much in those two days. You can really tell that the coaches put a ton of work into planning that." OUTLOOK Ferns' most recent visit to Penn State was in March, but he's also been to a few games during the past two years. He and his father were impressed with everything the sta9 had to o9er during his March visit. Ferns wants to study petroleum engineering, so he's strictly focused on schools that o9er that as a major. It's the reason he elimi- nated Ohio State in the spring, when many considered the Buckeyes to be the favorites. In recent months, West Virginia has emerged as Penn State's top competitor. Ferns' brother Michael plays for the Mountaineers, so Franklin and his sta9 have some work ahead of them. He's vis- ited Morgantown twice since his most recent visit to Penn State, so some be- lieve West Virginia holds the edge. That said, his father has been telling BWI for more than a month that the entire Ferns family wants to see Penn State again be- fore Brendan makes his decision. We are expecting him to announce in the near future, so if he doesn't make it back to campus soon, it's probably an indication that West Virginia is the favorite. JORDAN FULLER Ath. // 6-2 // 190 Old Tappan, N.J. Old Tappan OFFERS Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Carolina, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Wisconsin QUOTABLE Bart Fuller, Jordan's fa- ther: "There's really nothing negative about Penn State. Jordan loves every- thing about it. There's an opportunity to play early, potentially. The coaching staff is really good, the culture is good, the family atmosphere is good. Plus, the facilities are nice and they have the ed- ucation on top of all that. The commu- nication has been really good with them, so it's all been a very good expe- rience." OUTLOOK Fuller was back at Penn State for the Lasch Bash barbecue in July. His father said a:er the visit that everything went well and that Jordan enjoyed spending time with the verbally committed prospects. During the past year, both Jordan and his father have consistently mentioned the family at- mosphere at Penn State, as well as the program's emphasis on academics. Those are the main reasons PSU ranks high on his board. Since his most recent visit to Penn State, Fuller has also been to TCU and Notre Dame. He hasn't opened up much about the TCU visit, but Notre Dame is expected to be one of Penn State's top competitors, as is Ohio State. We ex- Scouting PSU's remaining targets Any of these six prospects would help Bob Shoop's defense hold strong | P A R T 2 D E F E N S E

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