Blue White Illustrated

C ameron Brown became the 17th player to join Penn State's Class of 2016, showing up early for the Lasch Bash on July 18 just so that he could be the 4rst player of the day to commit. (He was lat- er joined by linebacker Shaka Toney.) Brown, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound line- backer from the Bullis School in Po- tomac, Md., received more than 20 scholarship o5ers and chose the Nittany Lions over Pitt, Notre Dame and USC, explaining that "I just really loved the family atmosphere." Shortly a6er he committed, Blue White Illustrated's Ryan Snyder caught up with Brown to talk about his decision. Why was Penn State the right t for you? Were you planning to commit while on campus? From the 4rst time I visited, I really liked Penn State. Honestly, before I visit- ed, I wasn't really big on Penn State. I didn't know much about them, either; I just wasn't a big fan. But once I visited, that was big. That's when I realized that there is a lot more here than I ever real- ized. A6er that, I just constantly heard nothing but good things. Even talking to other adults – not necessarily my parents or my coaches – everyone always had good things to say about Penn State. But I wanted to make sure I saw all my options, so I did that, and there were some schools that I really liked. But then I would go back to Penn State and I would learn more and more and I always liked it. So, going into [the Lasch Bash weekend], I did plan to commit, but I didn't really make up my mind until about Thursday. It was a really close de- cision. I was talking to Pitt a lot that week, but at the end of the day, when you look at the degree, the social life and just everything outside of football, I was more comfortable with Penn State. I tried to not factor in football a whole lot. Obvi- ously, it played a part, but I was always trying to 4nd a school for all the other reasons, and that school was Penn State. How did the actual commitment take place? I know you came up earli- er than most recruits. Did you meet with James Franklin in his oce? Did you talk to some assistants rst? How did that all go down? Yeah, I went up early because I wanted to be the 4rst to commit that day. I got 'I think Penn State has a chance to be special' I N T E R V I E W C A M E R O N B R O W N Four-star linebacker eager to help Nittany Lions fulfill their potential LIFE OF THE PARTY Brown commit- ted to the Lions just prior to the Lasch Bash bar- becue last month. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com

• Cover