Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703041
UPWARD MOBILITY f course he had second thoughts. How could he not? The coach who had recruited him was gone, the school he was planning to attend had been shaken by an unimaginable scandal, and the NCAA had made the rubble bounce with its sanctions. When Malik Golden thought about the verbal commitment he had made to Penn State in Au- gust 2011, he couldn't help but wonder: Was this still the right place to be? "It's natural to take a step back when something that big happens," Gold- en said recently. "Obviously I took a step back and re-evaluated things with the important people in my life – my parents and my coaches from high school." The more he thought about it, though, the better Penn State looked. He still liked the school, he liked the football program, and more than any- thing, he liked the camaraderie he had found with his new team- mates. The di4culties had by no means abated. In fact, as recent headlines have shown, the scandal continues to shape outsiders' perceptions of the university nearly 3ve years later. But he was an insider, and although he had been recruited by the likes of Iowa, Connecticut, Boston College and Miami (Fla.), he didn't expect to 3nd a better 3t elsewhere. "Penn State was where I wanted to be," recalled Golden, a three-star ath- lete out of Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, "regardless of what hap- pened or who was the coach there or if there was a bowl game or not. "The guys in the locker room" were a major consideration, he continued. "They were a bunch of great guys who I trusted and I truly respected." Four years later, Golden is a proud Penn State graduate, having received his degree in telecommunications last December. He's also a returning starter in the secondary a5er 3lling in for injured safety Jordan Lucas late last season. O P R E V I E W A contingent of rising stars team up with a small cadre of experienced vets to instill optimism for a new season