Blue White Illustrated

of kids and I think our program could be one of the best in the country if this class ;lls out the way we want it to," Martin said. "I can't say the names, but there are going to be some top guys who have Penn State as their No. 1." The Lions' third commitment came from Michael Miranda of Stow, Ohio. Like Thor- pe, Miranda is expected to play either guard or center once he arrives in Uni- versity Park. He took two trips to Penn State this spring, the ;rst of which was on March 19 to watch practice. By the time he le>, he had the Nittany Lions near the top of his list, but he visited again for the Blue-White Game to assure himself that Penn State was the right ;t for him. A>er thinking everything over for a few days, Miranda made the call on April 21. "There's so much that I like," he said. "One thing that was nice is that I got to meet a lot of the commits when I came up for the Blue-White Game. I became comfortable with them. Honestly, I feel comfortable with everyone at Penn State. From the coaches to the people who just work for the team, everyone is really nice and down-to-earth. "It's also about three hours from my house, so it's not that far. It's a good dis- tance for me and my family. I really like the area around Penn State, too. It's such a nice area. The town is great. Penn State has excellent facilities, too. I could go on and on here. Penn State just has a little bit of everything for me, but if there was one thing that really stood out, it's just the people who I got to meet. Everyone was great to me and my family. From top to bottom, I feel comfortable with every- one." A three-star prospect, the 6-4, 285- pound Miranda was named the top o=en- sive lineman when he attended the Rivals Camp Series in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month, beating out multiple four- and ;ve-star players. He's also on pace to enroll early at Penn State. ■ Penn State welcomed more than 100 prospects for the Blue-White Game on April 16. As in years past, the majority of the attendees were potential walk-on can- didates and underclassmen, but the sta= also played host to a dozen Class of 2017 prospects who have already earned o=ers from the sta=. One of the more notable players was Rivals100 linebacker Jordan Anthony. Originally from Washington, D.C., Anthony transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., last summer. Be- cause he wasn't able to visit with the sta= while home for Easter, Anthony decided to er I visited in March, I de;nitely felt like this would be a good place for me. That's why I had to come back for the spring game, and I'm happy I did. I really like what Penn State has going for them." In addition to the Class of 2017 prospects mentioned above, Penn State hosted three-star safety Scott Nelson of Detroit, four-star defensive tackle Fred Hansard of Princeton, N.J.; two-star o=ensive lineman Andrew Stueber of Darien, Conn.; and four- star wide receiver Mark Webb of Warminster, Pa. The sta= also played host to a group of elite Class of 2018 prospects. One of the attendees was quarterback Phil Jur- kovec, who plays at Pine-Richland in Gibsonia, Pa. The sta= also welcomed athlete Kwantel Raines of Aliquippa, Pa., and wide receiver Darryle Sim- mons, who plays at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia. –R.S. Spring game makes strong impression on prospects

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