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U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L BY TIM OWEN Blue White Contributor J Penn State finds immediate help for its secondary by getting reaquainted with Jordan Lucas THE LUCAS FILE A QUICK FIX ordan Lucas thought he was going to play his college football for the Temple Owls. In fact, the plan was already set up: Graduate early from Worcester (Mass.) Academy after one season of post-grad ball, start class- es in Philadelphia during the spring se- mester and get a jumpstart on spring workouts. But before he finished cleaning out his prep school dorm room, he got a phone call. It was the Penn State coaches, and they wanted to see him and his family in person before Lucas left for Temple. They arrived first thing the next morning. "They said they were coming at 9 o'clock," said Lucas's father, Vincent, who was traveling from the family's hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. "I said I'll be there at 8." Lucas, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defen- sive back prospect, said he expected to be moving into his new dorm at Temple that day. Instead, he found himself seated at a table at Worcester Academy with his family, his prep coach, David Dykeman, and Penn State coaches Ted Roof, Ron Vander- linden and John Butler. The group had their meeting, and the three Penn State coaches left without offering a scholarship. Only a couple hours after their departure, though, Lucas received two calls si- multaneously – one from his father and the other from Dykeman. They both were carrying the same mes- sage. Penn State had offered a schol- arship. "First thing, [the Penn State coach- es] called my coach and then they called my father," Lucas said. "They called me last, but I pretty much knew already." He also knew he was no longer go- ing to enroll at Temple. Instead, he de- cided to take classes at Worcester for the spring, run track and enroll at Penn State in June. S T A T I S T I C S Totaled more than 30 tackles and an interception as a senior at Worcester Academy. H O N O R S Was named to the New England Preparatory School Ath- letic Council's Class A All-New England team as a senior. ... Rated a three-star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. "I committed right on the spot," Lu- cas said. "They were saying, 'If we give you the offer, will you commit?' And I was like, 'Of course. There's nothing like Penn State.' " Lucas knew about the Nittany Lions already. In fact, he was being recruit- ed by Penn State long before he was named to the NEPSAC Class A All-New England team in 2011. He tallied roughly 30 tackles and returned three punts for touchdowns for Worcester that year, by which time the Lions had been recruiting him for more than two years. As a junior at New Rochelle High, Lu- cas and former Penn State assistant Kermit Buggs began to develop a re- lationship. They stayed in contact throughout his last year and a half at New Rochelle, and when he didn't get the grades he needed to play Division I football, Penn State kept in touch as he opted to attend prep school at Worcester. In early November, Lucas said he felt like he was finally getting close to a scholarship offer. His grades were good – he finished the semester with a 3.6 GPA – and the Penn State W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M coaches were hinting that they were close to extending an offer. "Then right before the scandal hap- pened, coach [Mike] McQueary was supposed to come to my game. They said they could possibly have some good news for me," Lucas explained. "But that same Saturday was when all that stuff came out. So he couldn't make it." Although the coaches he had been dealing with ended up departing, they must have left Lucas on the top of their recruiting board for the next staff. When the new coaches took over, they "said that he'd be one of [Bill] O'Brien's first recruits," Vincent Lucas said. "They had already looked at film and [knew] everything about him. They just wanted to come out and vis- it to make an offer." Lucas became the first recruit to ver- bally commit to O'Brien and his staff, and there's a strong possibility that he will also be one of the first recruits to see the playing field this fall. Going into 2012 spring practice, the Lions have only two safeties on scholarship after graduating their two A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 13 starters from last season. Lucas is the only Class of 2012 recruit who was specifically recruited to play safety, and he's aware that he has a chance to con- tribute to the team early in his career. "It keeps me going every day, to be honest with you," he said. "You don't hear about freshmen going to play at Penn State and not having to redshirt because they have a chance to play early. You don't really hear that, so I'm excited. If I have the chance, I'm going to take it."

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