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there around 9:30 that morning, and we met with Coach Franklin not long a8er. He basically explained some things to me and Mom. I also asked him if it would still be OK for me to take my o7cial visit to USC. He said no. I was OK with that. I understand why he feels that way. But I wasn't going to let that impact me. I still felt comfortable, so that's when I told him that I wanted to spend the next four years here at Penn State. I want to ask about recruiting other players. You're close with Damani Neal, who's a year behind you at the Bullis School, and you also know some other guys in that area. Are you the kind of guy who will reach out to whomever on Twitter? Or are you more laid-back and let recruits come to you about those kinds of things? Well, 5rst o6, I will get Damani to come. I know how hard he works and how good he is. I want guys like him at my program, so I'll be talking to him a lot. But it depends. If I know the kid well enough, then de5nitely. I don't think I'll be reaching out to just anyone. I don't know all of the guys that PSU wants, but if the coaches want me to talk to some- one or I'm friends with them, then yeah. I just want guys who are hard workers. I want to play with guys who I know work as hard as me, and I know some of those guys already, so those will be the guys I'll reach out to. Guys who I know are great players and are committed to getting better. How di&cult was this decision? You already mentioned both Pitt and USC. I know that Notre Dame was another school that you really liked, so how di&cult was this? I had a good feeling about Penn State ever since I visited. Like I said, I didn't really like Penn State a whole lot growing up. It just wasn't a school that I watched. It's not like I knew a lot about them. But once I visited one or two times, Penn State was my favorite. When I visited Notre Dame, they kind of joined Penn State. I liked Notre Dame a lot, and my mom really liked them, too. She real- ly liked the academics there and the structure, but the social life just wasn't for me. I do think that I would have committed to Notre Dame if I had liked the town and the social life more, just because of how much my mom liked it there. But once she visited Penn State, she realized they had a lot of great things to o6er. I did go back and forth with them and Penn State for a little while. Also, Pitt came into the equation, and they did jump up and become a con- tender at the end. I did go back and forth for a couple days, but in the end I just knew more about Penn State and knew that I would absolutely be comfortable there. How important was coach Charles Hu% and your relationship with him? I know you talked to a few coaches, but he was the one you talked with the most. Do you think you would have ended up at Penn State no matter what, or did your relationship with him and maybe someone like Sean Spencer or Brent Pry have a serious impact on your decision? My relationship with Coach Hu6 de5- nitely helped Penn State out a lot. When I came up for a game that 5rst time, he really reached out to me and seemed to really care about me. There were a lot of guys at that game, and the attention he showed me was more than I expected. That's when I knew that he was a guy who I was going to really get to know. Just the way they stressed family and everything like that – I do really see that from him and the other coaches. That was huge with my mom, too. I think that once she saw all of that, she became re- ally comfortable with the school. She's an emotional person. She's like every mom. She wants to make sure that I'm going to be taken care of, and Coach Hu6 was the 5rst one to really show her that. Coach Spence did his part, too. He showed her that. Also, with Coach Pry and Coach Spencer, they're both really passionate, especially Coach Spencer. He has so much energy, and that's actu- ally how I am, too. Even if I'm having a bad day, I'm just a di6erent person dur- ing practice. My energy is higher than most guys during that typical Wednes- day a8ernoon practice. I know Coach Spencer is the same way. I know that you're penciled in to play linebacker when you get to Penn State. But with your frame, it looks as though you could grow into a defen- sive end. Have the coaches brought that up with you? Yeah, they have brought that up. It just all depends on how much weight I put on, how much I grow. If I'm able to put on 30 or 40 pounds, then they will prob- ably give me a look at defensive end. They originally o6ered me [a scholarship as a] defensive end, but because they re- ally wanted me and saw that other schools brought up linebacker, they just said that they want me on board and then they'll 5gure it out. I plan to play linebacker when I start, but even if they do decide they want me to play defen- sive end in a couple years, that's 5ne with me. I don't really care about that too much. I'm just used to linebacker, but I know the coaches know best. If they think I'll be a better defensive end, I trust that they'll make the best decision for me. That's the main thing I care about. Just being the best player I can be, you know? That's all that really mat- ters to me. What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses? What are a few things that you want to improve on between now and the end of the season? For strengths, I think I get around the 5eld pretty well, especially for my size. I've been told by multiple coaches that I move well for someone my size. I feel like I can read the game better than most players, too. I think I can read the play, but at the same time, that's something I want to improve on, too. In college, plays are much more complicated, so you need to always improve on that. Right now, I can read a play within the 5rst couple seconds, but in college, I want to be able to read it even faster and sometimes just anticipate what they plan to run. I would

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