Blue White Illustrated

F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G Four recruits commit to Penn State Western Pennsylvania's top offensive lineman chooses Nittany Lions over Pittsburgh BY RYAN SNYDER Blue White Illustrated get at his position. Dorian Johnson, a P four-star offensive tackle prospect from Belle Vernon, Pa., visited with his mother and grand- mother on June 23, just hours after the latest chapter in the Jerry Sandusky scandal ended with the former assistant coach's conviction in a Bellefonte court- room. The scandal has enn State received verbal com- mitments from four quality prospects in June, one of whom was the staff's top tar- gram and the way things are head- ed. Penn State is a big-time football school, so all of those things factored into it." The 6-foot-6, 280-pound offensive lineman is a Rivals250 member, checking in at No. 233 overall nationally. While he's ranked the seventh- best prospect Pennsylvania, in the DORIAN JOHNSON given Penn State a black eye, but John- son said he under- stood that Bill O'Brien and his staff were part of the uni- versity's fresh start, and he added that he and his family went into the visit with an open mind. They came out thoroughly impressed – so much so that Johnson made an unexpect- ed decision the next night, June 24. "I've been thinking about this for "[I'm] comfortable with the entire pro- gram and the way things are headed." the past week and a half now," he said. "I thought about it the whole ride home [from University Park], and really, the education there, the football tradition, the campus – everything just felt right. "I was comfortable with the coach- es, comfortable with the entire pro- coaching staff had Johnson high on its recruiting board. The decision was even bigger considering that he appeared to be leaning to Pitts- burgh due to his mother's desire for him to stay close to home. As significant as Johnson's commit- ment was, it was not the biggest surprise of the recruiting sea- son. No, the biggest surprise came when defensive back Neiko Robinson of Bratt, Fla., announced for Penn State two days after picking up a verbal offer. Getting the news directly from O'Brien was a special experience for the three-star player, helping him quickly realize that Penn State was the right place for him. "I just want to be part of something special," he said. "Penn State hasn't been the program that it has been in the [past]. They've had some great players, though. They had a great coach and are the kind of program that can do great things. They've Adam Breneman Curtis Cothran Ross Douglas William Fuller TE DE DB 6-5 228 6-5 225 5-10 180 WR 6-1 160 Christian Hackenberg QB Dorian Johnson Brendan Mahon Andrew Nelson Neiko Robinson Garrett Sickels Greg Webb * As of June 27 OL OL OL DB DE DT 6-4 215 6-6 280 6-5 315 6-5 265 5-11 170 6-4 225 6-2 290 – – 4.4 4.4 Camp Hill, Pa. Newtown, Pa. Avon, Ohio Philadelphia 4.72 Fork Union, Va. 4.9 – – 4.5 4.7 – Belle Vernon, Pa. Randolph, N.J. Hershey, Pa. Bratt, Fla. Little Silver, N.J. Sicklerville, N.J. Cedar Cliff Council Rock North Avon Roman Catholic Fork Union Military Academy Belle Vernon Randolph Hershey Northview Red Bank Regional Timber Creek PENN S TAT E COMMI TMENT S* NAME POS HT WT Brandon Bell LB 6-1 224 40 HOME SCHOOL 4.6 Mays Landing, N.J. Oakcrest always been one of my dream schools, and after talking to the coaches, talking to Coach O'Brien, I just knew that I wanted to be part of something special: Getting Penn State back to being a top program." Robinson only held offers from North Texas and UAB before Penn State made a push, but he had been receiving serious interest from mul- FOLLOW RECRUITING ONLINE Visit bwi.rivals.com for updated information about Penn State's verbal scholarship offers and commitments. 10 A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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