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D E C E M B E R   3 0 ,   2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 17 fensive back Paris Ford. Flipping receiver Aaron Mathews also leB a bad taste in the mouth of PSU fans. Following all of that, there was some talk over the course of the summer that Penn State may have cooled a bit with the WPIAL's best prospects following the addition of Miles Sanders last year, but now the Lions have landed the biggest name of them all in Wade. It also bears mentioning that he attends a school that just produced a top NFL DraB pick in re- ceiver Tyler Boyd. Oh, and his cousin just happens to be the head coach. Don't think that won't come back to help the Lions down the road. 2017 TEAM RANKINGS Landing a five-star prospect equates to a major boast in the team rankings, and that's exactly what happened the night of Wade's commitment, as Penn State moved up five places from No. 15 to No. 10 in the 2017 rankings. With the class at 18 verbal commitments, it's likely that the Nittany Lions will take only one or two more prospects. The Lions missed out on five-star de- fensive end Josh Kaindoh, who commit- ted to Florida State in late December, but the addition of Wade should all but as- sure that Penn State once again finishes in the top 15, just as it did in 2015, which was James Franklin's first full year at Penn State. His commitment also guar- antees that Penn State will once again finish in the top 25, which has been the case every year since Franklin took over the program. ELITE COMPANY Wade, who is considered to be the na- tion's No. 1 cornerback, is Penn State's first five-star commitment since Chris- tian Hackenberg in 2013. In February he will become only the seventh five-star prospect since Rivals' inception in 2002 to earn a five-star title in the final class rankings and then sign with the Nittany Lions. Prior to Hackenberg, the five-star prospects who signed with the Lions were quarterback Anthony Morelli and linebacker Dan Connor (Class of 2004), defensive back Justin King and receiver Derrick Williams (Class of 2005) and cornerback A.J. Wallace (Class of 2006). There's no debating Connor's success, while Williams is still a fan favorite in Happy Valley. Where will Wade stand when it's all said and done? Only time will tell. EARLY PLAYING TIME Education, his relationship with the coaches and overall campus atmosphere all played major parts in this commit- ment, but make no mistake, Wade wants to see the field early in his career. Of course, he knows he's going to have to earn it, but as we've seen countless times over the past few years, his skill level is a step above most others. We've also seen multiple examples of freshmen making an early impact throughout Franklin's tenure. So, what are Wade's chances of seeing the field next fall? Well, we think he'll be best suited for the nickel posi- tion, as Wade has shown at multiple camps that he has the ability to keep up with shiBy slot receivers. However, we also think that safety is very much in play. It may not have shown this year with John Reid and Grant Haley, but Penn State has made it clear that it prefers some height on the edge. But the coaches also like freak athletes like Wade, so while we're certainly not ruling cor- nerback out, don't be surprised if he starts at the nickel position or ends up making a bigger impact at safety early in his career, especially when you consider all the depth at cornerback going into next season. 'Penn State has a lot of good things coming their way' Penn State picked up its first five-star prospect since Christian Hackenberg when defensive back Lamont Wade of Clairton, Pa., made his commitment to the Nittany Lions on Dec. 17. BWI's Ryan Snyder caught up with Wade's fa- ther, Carlton Wade, to talk about all the factors that went into the decision to join Penn State's Class of 2017. BWI When did Lamont know that Penn State was definitely the school he was going to attend? I know West Vir- ginia made a serious push late in the process, so when did he make his final decision? CARLTON WADE It pretty much came down to the last couple of days. He was going back and forth with Penn State and West Virginia over the past few weeks, and then we took that UCLA visit at the last minute. ABer that visit, [the Bruins] were also very appealing to us. But it pretty much came down to West Virginia and Penn State in the end. The fact that West Virginia is losing so many corners really had an impact on his decision, because he felt like that was an excellent chance for him to start right away. At Penn State, they have so many people coming back, so they can't guarantee that he'll start. But overall, we just believed that Penn State was a better situation. Between the academics and location, that worked out well for him and our family. But he did legiti- mately go back and forth between the two over the final week or so. BWI Throughout the process, you've had a lot of praise for both Terry Smith and James Franklin. How important were those two? I know that Terry Smith has been there from the start and has become very close with Lamont. WADE Terry was very important to us. He's been there for a long time and he's been very honest with us the entire time. Whenever we would research stuff that he tells us, it was always spot on, and that's so important in today's re- cruiting. A lot of coaches tell you stuff just to tell you. When you research it, part of it's true, part of it isn't true, but that's never been the case with Terry. With Coach Franklin, we really believe that he'll go down as one of the better coaches when he's done with his career. I think he's done a heck of a job, espe- I N T E R V I E W C A R L T O N W A D E

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