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Naasir Watkins, a junior offensive tackle at Good Counsel High in Olney, Md., will be taking his first visit to University Park on Saturday to attend Penn State's game against Illinois. Watkins, who stands 6-foot-4, 283 pounds, has been speaking with the Nit- tany Lions' offensive line coach, Herb Hand, roughly once a week during the past few months. With the three-star Class of 2017 prospect having never seen Penn State in person, Hand has been focused on getting him on campus. "He's been mainly asking when I'm going to come up there to check them out," Watkins said. "For this visit, he actually wrote to me in a letter that it would mean a lot to all of them if I made a trip up there to check them out. I thought that was pretty cool. So this will be my first time ever going up to Penn State. I'm looking forward to it." Watkins admits that he still has a lot to learn when it comes to the Nittany Lions, but he watched sev- eral of the team's recent games, including its game last weekend against Maryland – a game that Penn State won, 31-30. "I know that they've always been one of the better football schools in the area," he said. "They're doing pretty well this sea- son. I actually just watched them this past weekend. I watched them win that game against Maryland. "I know they had a few things recently that set them back a little bit, but I can't really say that they're just now on the rise or anything like that. They've always been one of the best schools and best football teams in our area. They've always been one of the big names in football, so I think it's pretty cool that they want me to come up there and get to know them more." Penn State isn't the only school in the region that is showing serious interest in Watkins. He is also being pursued by Vir- ginia and Pitt. "I got the offer from Vir- ginia back in the summer," he said. "I actually thought I was going to camp at Virginia that weekend, but it turned into an unoffi- cial visit. I toured the school and they of- fered me without camping, so I didn't even end up going to the camp. Everything was really nice. I liked Virginia. "With Pitt, they told my coach that they wanted to offer me about a month ago. That one came kind of out of the blue. Our D-line coach and recruiting coach, Kevin McFadden, he deals with most of the coaches and getting our film out there, things like that. He was talking to Pitt on my behalf, and that's how I eventually earned an offer." This past summer, Watkins camped at West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio State. He said he would be interested in checking out one or two additional schools before the end of the season, most notably Duke. But he added that he probably won't start to get a good feel for different programs and their respective campuses until next spring. PENN STATE RADIO NETWORK WAEB............. 790-AM....... Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton WVAM............ 1430-AM....................................... Altoona WRKY............. 104.9-FM............... Altoona/Hollidaysburg WILK.............. 103.1-FM.........................................Avoca WAYC............. 1600-AM.......................................Bedford WAYC............. 100.9-FM......................................Bedford WBYB............. 103.9-FM.....................................Bradford WBUT............. 1050-AM..........................................Butler WCPA............. 900-AM...................................... Clearfield WQYX............. 93.1-FM..................................... Clearfield WZDB.............95.9-FM........................ DuBois/Sykesville WHGL............ 102.9-FM................................ Elmira, N.Y. WPSE............. 1450-AM.............................................Erie WFRA............. 1450-AM...................................... Franklin WGET............. 1320-AM.................................. Gettysburg WJEJ.............. 1240-AM.Hagerstown, Md./Chambersburg Sports Radio..1400-AM...................................Harrisburg Sports Radio..95.3-FM.................................... Harrisburg WKZN............ 1300-AM..................................... Hazleton WLAK............. 103.5-FM................................ Huntingdon WNTJ............. 1490-AM...................................Johnstown WBYB............. 103.9-FM.......................................... Kane WLPA............. 1490-AM....................................Lancaster WNPV.............1440-AM.....................................Lansdale WLBR............. 1270-AM..................................... Lebanon WMRF............ 95.7-FM.................................... Lewistown WMGW...........1490-AM....................................Meadville ESPN Radio....97.3-FM................................ Millville, N.J. WJST.............. 1280-AM.....................New Castle/Sharon WVNJ............. 1160-AM.......................... New York Metro WNTP............. 990-AM..................................Philadelphia KQV............... 1410-AM................................... Pittsburgh WAVT..............101.9-FM.................................... Pottsville WPPA............. 1360-AM.....................................Pottsville WRAW............ 1340-AM...................................... Reading WBZU.............910-AM....................................... Scranton WBYB............. 103.9-FM................................. Smethport WQWK............1450-AM.............................. State College WBUS.............93.7-FM................................State College WZDD............ 101.3-FM....................Stratonville/Clarion WKOK............ 1070-AM...................................... Sunbury WLLI.............. 990-AM...................................... Somerset WTIV.............. 1230-AM..................................... Titusville WHGL.............100.3-FM............................... Troy/Canton WTRN.............1340-AM......................................... Tyrone WTRN.............100.7-FM........................................ Tyrone WNBT............. 104.5-FM...................................Wellsboro WNBQ............ 92.3-FM....................Wellsboro/Mansfield WILK.............. 980-AM................................. Wilkes-Barre WKSB.............102.7-FM.............................. Williamsport WSBA............. 910-AM.............................................. York WJST.............. 1280-AM........................Youngstown, Ohio O C T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 10 Good Counsel lineman plans to visit this weekend R E C R U I T I N G R Y A N S N Y D E R | B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D 2017 STANDOUT Watkins will be visiting Penn State for the first time this weekend to see the Lions play Illi- nois. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com

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