Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/686202
these people, but they knew who I was and they were very kind. They were just wishing me all the best, no matter where I ended up. They made me feel really ac- cepted there. It made me want to come to Penn State even more. It made me feel welcomed. How di cult was this decision? Was Penn State always your favorite, or were there one or two schools that were neck-and-neck with PSU when you were thinking everything over? I loved Northwestern, Virginia and Syracuse. I had a really good time at all three of those schools. A.er my ,rst vis- it, I wanted to take a few more trips. I wouldn't necessarily say they were my favorite right then, but they were de,- nitely right near the top. All three of those other schools o-ered a lot. They're great academic schools and they all have great coaches, but I just felt a bond with the Penn State coaches that was a little bit ahead of the other schools. When I came back for the spring game then at Penn State, I went into that knowing I wasn't going to commit that day. I actually was still planning to take a few more visits, but I went in there and that's when it really felt at home. But I still didn't want to make a decision right then. I wanted to make sure that I went home to think everything over for a few days. So, you could say that it was a tough decision. It's always tough when you've built relationships with all these coaches, but at the same time, I knew that when I le. PSU that day that that was where I wanted to go. I just wanted to make sure that I really thought every- thing over before I made the move. You mentioned that you got to know a few of the other committed players. Who did you get to hang out with? Who have you gotten to know well? Also, do you plan to work on recruit- ing other players, or are you the kind of guy who doesn't like to bug recruits about that kind of stu? Well, to be honest, I haven't put a ton of thought into talking to other recruits yet. I'm sure I'll talk to some guys at some point, but I haven't thought about that much yet. But I've gotten to know Sean Cli-ord [over the past] two months. He's a great guy. I also got to meet C.J. [Thorpe] before he committed. I hung out with Rob [Martin] for a little bit, too. I've also been talking to Antonio Shelton for a month or two now. It was just easy to see that this is a great group of guys who are committed to making sure that Penn State gets back to where it should be. They're a real accepting group, and I didn't really see that at the other schools I was looking at. Everyone was really welcoming when I committed, which didn't surprise me once I got to know a few of them. Penn State has a lot of great recruits coming in. I'm really happy to be joining them. I know I'll ,t in well. Can you talk about your high school career a little bit? When did you start playing varsity? What positions have you played? I didn't start on varsity until my soph- omore year, but I got a lot of meaningful playing time as a freshman. I then start- ed at le. tackle my sophomore year and I played all 10 games. I didn't miss a snap the entire year. I actually haven't missed a snap at all during my whole career, ex- cept for when my coaches take me o- the ,eld at the end of the game when we're winning big or something like that. I then started all 14 games at le. tackle this past year. I've always been playing le. tackle. When I go to camps I play guard, mainly because I know I'll be an interior lineman in college, but I've always played tackle for my high school team. Has Penn State talked about where you're going to play? Have they talked