Blue White Illustrated

F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G commitments, Bill O'Brien's assis- tant coaches made plenty of positive strides with a host of top targets, as well as a few new ones. Plenty of Pennsylvania talent was still available, players such as wide receiver Robert Foster of Monaca, athlete Tyler Boyd of Clairton, line- backer Zayd Issah of Harrisburg, running back David Williams of Philadelphia and offensive lineman Dorian Johnson of Belle Vernon. Those were some the first recruits the staff checked in with, as Penn State's coaches met with the play- ers' respective head coaches on Mon- day and Tuesday following the Blue- White Game. After those meetings, seven assis- tant coaches hit up as many schools as possible over a five-week period, not only checking in on 2013 talent, but also getting a head start on top prospects for 2014. One stop resulted in a new 2013 scholarship offer. Linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden went to Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia during the second week of May and extended a verbal offer to wide receiver Daryl Worley. A fast-rising three-star prospect, Worley picked up a total of nine ver- bal offers during the spring evalua- tion period. "I caught up with [Vanderlinden] when he came to my school," Wor- ley said. "The offer was actually told to my coach, who relayed it back to me. "I didn't grow up a fan or anything, Lions make push for top prospects T Assistant coaches hit the road, extend scholarship offers during spring evaluation period PENN S TAT E COMMI TMENT S* BY RYAN SNYDER Blue White Illustrated he spring evaluation period has come and gone, and although the Nittany Lions' recruiting class is holding steady at eight NAME Adam Breneman Curtis Cothran Ross Douglas POS HT WT TE DE DB Christian Hackenberg QB Brendan Mahon OL Andrew Nelson OL Garrett Sickels Greg Webb * As of May 30 CONSTRUCTIVE SUMMER Rated the nation's No. 153 overall prospect by Rivals.com, Hackenberg is getting set to participate in the invitation-only Rivals100 Five-Star Chal- lenge camp June 22-24 in Atlanta. Tim Owen but I do know a few people who go there, and I do know that it's a won- derful program as a whole. Due to the fact that I also run track, I also like that Penn State has a really great track program. It's one of the best in the nation." Another offer went out via phone on May 8, as O'Brien verbally offered linebacker Al-Rasheed Ben- ton from Shabazz High School in Newark, N.J. O'Brien isn't allowed to go on the road, but the coaching staff thought it would be best for him to personally extend the offer. FOLLOW RECRUITING ONLINE Visit bwi.rivals.com for updated information about Penn State's verbal scholarship offers and commitments. 10 J U N E 2 8 , 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 DE DT 6-5 6-5 220 225 5-10 180 6-4 6-5 6-5 6-4 6-2 215 302 265 225 290 40 – – 4.4 – – – 4.7 – HOME Camp Hill, Pa. Newtown, Pa. Avon, Ohio Fork Union, Va. Randolph, N.J. Hershey, Pa. SCHOOL Cedar Cliff Council Rock North Avon Fork Union Military Academy Randolph Hershey Little Silver, N.J. Red Bank Regional Sicklerville, N.J. Timber Creek

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