Blue White Illustrated

U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L BY RYAN SNYDER Blue White Illustrated L After taking up a new sport in his adopted hometown, Nyeem Wartman quickly develops into a star THE WARTMAN FILE FEELING RIGHT AT HOME inebacker Nyeem Wartman experi- enced a major culture shock in 2007 when he and his family moved to Archbald, Pa., a town of about 7,000 northeast of Scranton. Like any oth- er eighth-grader, the Philadelphia na- tive was reluctant to leave his friends and family behind. But it wasn't just that the people in his life were chang- ing. "Growing up in a city, when you're used to nothing but buildings, to move up here, where there are more trees than houses, it definitely was something I had to adapt to," he said. "A lot of things were just differ- ent. The way people treat high school football was one of them. People are crazy about high school football up here." A lanky basketball player, Wart- man decided he was going to use foot- ball as a way to make friends during his first semester at Valley View High. After signing up for the freshman team, he received another surprise when he began playing organized football for the first time. However, it ended up being one of the best deci- sions of his life. "It was all about just having fun that year," Wartman said. "We went 7-3, and I was one of the leading tacklers on the team, which was definitely a bit of a surprise. Our coach told us at the end of the year that we were a real talented group and had a lot of kids with the potential to play college football, but when you're young, you don't really listen. He ended up being right." At the start of Wartman's sophomore season, Valley View head coach George Howanitz – an admitted Nittany Lions fan – still had no idea he was harbor- ing a potential star at Linebacker U. But he did know he had a special play- er on his hands, and Wartman's play- ing career really took off after he be- gan to develop physically. Photo courtesy of George Howanitz "He just started making a lot of plays for us," Howanitz said. "Our freshman coaches were coming back to us say- ing stuff like, 'You have to see this hit he had,' so we knew he has some tal- ent there. Then, once we really learned about his speed his sophomore year, it was all about getting him to mature physically, getting him in the weight room to grow." Wartman put on roughly 30 pounds of muscle over the course of his high school career, and it appears he still has the potential to add more bulk to his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame. And while he's already a physical force for opposing blockers to contend with, he combines his impressive strength with speed and agility. "We have people around here who still don't think he's Division I good be- cause he didn't have 150 or 200 tack- les," Howanitz said. "What they don't realize, though, is that when we play against certain teams that run more of a spread set, he goes out and cov- ers the slot receiver. Most teams have W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M a nickel back or strong safety doing that. We had a linebacker covering some of their fastest players." Penn State linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden was among those who recognized Wartman's speed. "I went in the spring [of 2011] and watched him run in track meets twice, and he ran like a 10.85 and a 10.9 at 230 pounds," Vanderlinden said on signing day. "He looked great running down that track. I watched him play this fall, and boy, he was good. He's ac- tive and tough, and watching his highlights from his junior and senior years, he's a guy who has a great fu- ture. He's a wonderful person, as well." Wartman originally committed to Penn State in July and found himself with an unexpected and tough decision to make after the Jerry Sandusky scandal erupted in November. Al- though he still appeared to be firmly committed to Penn State after Joe Pa- terno was dismissed as head coach, Rutgers and its then-coach Greg Schi- ano made a serious push, one that lasted up until about 10 days before signing day in February. Just as any teenager would do, Wartman turned to his mother for ad- vice. After talking to new Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien, Wartman's moth- er, Veronica White, was able to put aside her own misgivings and reassure Nyeem that Penn State was still the right choice. "It really was a hard decision toward the end," White said. "With everything going on, I did have to really think about things. But when I thought about it, that scandal had nothing to do with these incoming recruits, this incoming coach. "I really did like the Rutgers coach- es. They were very respectful about everything. But once I really was able to talk to Coach O'Brien – who didn't really even know much about my son but was excited for him – I made sure to let Nyeem know that I think he made the right decision to stay with Penn State." A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 2 29 S T A T I S T I C S Totaled 120 tackles as a senior at Valley View High, including six tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and an interception. ... Finished his high school career with a school-record 303 total tackles. H O N O R S Was named All-State on offense and defense by pafootballnews.com. ... Played in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in December. ... Will represent Pennsylvania in the Big 33 game. LOYALTY Wartman, shown here at last year's Blue-White Game, decided to follow through on his commitment to Penn State even after Paterno's dismissal in November.

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