Blue White Illustrated

I ts 2016 recruiting class is nearing com- pletion, but Penn State still has its eye on one more o9ensive prospect: Tre Nixon, a Rivals250 wide receiver from Viera, Fla. Since August 2014, Nixon has taken three uno:cial visits to State College, the most recent of which was for the Lasch Bash barbecue in July. His interest in Penn State stems in part from the strong rela- tionship he has built with wide receivers coach Josh Gattis. "My relationship with Coach Gattis is going really good," Nixon said. "I talk to him daily. I'm actually talking to him even more now that they get one call a week. I usually call him, and now he calls me once a week, so we talk on the phone regularly and we also type daily over Twitter, so everything is going really well. "We really don't even talk about football anymore. We basically just talk about how each other is doing or whatever other topic is on our mind. I really like him a lot. He's a great person and a great coach." Nixon, who stands 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, added that he's also in frequent contact with head coach James Franklin via social media. "I usually talk to Coach Franklin over Twitter, but he actually called me the 7rst day that they were allowed to make calls," Nixon said. "That was the last time I ac- tually spoke with him on the phone, but we probably type to each other every couple of days on Twitter." Penn State's relationship with Nixon and his family dates back to June 2014, when he attended one of the sta9's satellite camps at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. In addition to an excellent on-7eld perform- ance, he impressed the coaches with his maturity and character. Less than a week a;er meeting him for the 7rst time, they extended an o9er. The quick turnaround was, in itself, a sign of their interest; rarely does everything happen that quickly. But once the rest of the nation was able to do the same, Nixon quickly became one of the most sought-a;er receiver prospects in the Class of 2016, collecting more than 40 scholarship o9ers. A;er that surge in interest last season, and again this past spring, Nixon visited more than a dozen of his favorite schools. Of those favorites, he has highlighted six. "I would say that, right now, I'm mainly focused on Georgia, Auburn, Penn State, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Ole Miss. Those are the six that I'm really focused on at the moment," he said. "I basically talk to coaches from all of those schools each week and I also talk to them over Twitter regularly. Of course, nothing is set in stone right now, things always change with recruiting, but those will probably be the schools that I make my decision o9 of." Having already seen all of his top schools, Nixon doesn't plan to use any of his o:cial visits before making a decision. Since the start of the season, he has been watching games at home, as he believes that seeing his favorites play on TV will provide him with the information he needs to make the best decision. "I don't have plans to visit any schools before I make a decision, but I won't com- pletely rule it out," he said. "There is still a chance, but I was really fortunate to be able to 8y out and see all the schools that I've seen over the past year. I know most recruits aren't able to do that, so I was really fortunate to be able to do that, and that's why o:cial visits aren't as important for me. Plus, I fall in love with every school I visit, so the big thing for me right now is to just watch as many games as possible. I plan on watching all of their games and really seeing how they perform each week. That's the main thing I'm trying to do right now." When it comes to making a decision, Nixon has consistently said that he doesn't want recruiting to be a burden throughout his entire senior season. Because of that, he believes that he should be able to decide within the next few weeks. "In a perfect world, the end of September would be best for me," he said. "That would allow me to watch all these teams play some of their 7rst games, but also make sure that I don't have this on my mind all season. Basically, the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can focus on my season and school. "So, ideally, the end of September would work best, but I'm not going to rush any- thing, so it's possible that it drags into the 7rst few weeks of October. I should de7nitely have it done by then." A four-star prospect, Nixon is currently ranked No. 221 overall by Rivals.com. He's Nixon has Nittany Lions on short list |

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