Blue White Illustrated

the things you do off the field as well, so I just know that he's definitely the best fit for me." Cothran's coach at Council Rock North, Adam Collachi, said Penn State is getting a player who he believes has "tremendous potential." "He just turned 17 a few weeks ago, so he's still pretty young," Col- lachi said. "I think one of his big attributes is his size. He's legitimate- ly getting close to being 6-foot-6, and his body frame is going to allow him to just pile on weight easily without losing the majority of his speed. He also works his butt off all off-sea- son. He's without a doubt the hard- est worker on our team. He's always trying to get better. "His athleticism really is probably his best gift so far, though. For a guy his size, some of the things he can do are incredible, really. We're look- ing for big things from him this sea- son. He really just needs more game experience. The more he plays, the better he'll get. I know he's going to just get better and better this upcoming season." Plenty of work ahead for Lions T PSU must maintain its fast pace. Here are the players it still needs BY PHIL GROSZ Blue White Illustrated here's a sense of excitement building on websites and mes- sage boards as Penn State's ANALYSIS recruiting effort starts to gain momentum. Nittany Lion football fans have every reason to be thrilled with the way that responded to new head coach Bill O'Brien and his staff dur- ing the past two months as the coaches have worked to assemble the first class that can truly be called theirs. (Most of the players in the Class of 2012 were initially recruited by the previous coaching staff.) It was Penn State, of course, that recruits have changed the familiar recruiting timetable, launching a trend in April 1993 when it accepted a com- mitment from Pennsylvania receiv- er Joe Nastasi. In the nearly two decades since Nastasi's commit- ment, it has become the norm for high school juniors to announce their college choice 10, 11 or in some cases even 12 months before signing day. The players who have committed this year appear to constitute the best batch of early commitments that Penn State has landed since '93. As of this writing, O'Brien had received commitments from seven players,six of whom had been giv- en four -star Rivals.com. ratings by Tight end Adam Breneman from Cedar Cliff High in Camp Hill, Pa., and defensive end Garrett Sickels from Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver, N.J., are ranked by Rivals.com as two of the top 50 overall prospects nationally. Breneman is Rivals' 22nd-best prospect, while Sickels is 50th. Defensive lineman Greg Webb of Sicklerville, N.J., (No. 76), corner- back Ross Douglas (No. 292) from Avon, Ohio, quarterback Christian Hackenberg (No. 153) from Fork Union Military Academy, Va., and offensive lineman Brendan Mahon (No. 190) from Randolph, N.J., are also ranked by Rivals among the nation's top 250 prospects. But even though the Nittany Lions were able to secure seven ver- W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 11

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