Blue White Illustrated

"This weekend was awesome," Gold- en said after his Jan. 14 visit. "All in all, it was real good. I enjoyed myself with all the prospects and the players, we all had a real good time." In addition to Iowa, Golden was courted by Connecticut, Akron, Boston College and Tulane. Playing in the secondary, he finished his senior season with seven intercep- tions and nine pass deflections. On of- fense, he caught eight touchdown passes and totaled 815 receiving yards. He also ran for seven touch- downs and averaged 24.1 yards on punt returns and 24.5 on kickoff re- turns. PHIL'S ANALYSIS When Golden verbally committed to Penn State in August, it was with the expectation that he would end up at free safety. But it looks as though the Nittany Lions' new coaching staff would prefer to use him at wide receiver. He has sure hands, 4.5-second 40-yard speed and a 33- inch vertical leap. Golden played run- ning back, wide receiver and free safety as a senior at Cheshire Acade- my. Jesse JAMES TE, 6-7, 248 McKeesport, Pa. South Allegheny High When James committed on March 30, he was relatively unknown to most scouts and fans. His only other offer at the time was from Toledo, and a few fans questioned everything but his height. But it soon became appar- ent that the Nittany Lion coaching staff knew what it was doing. By the end of his senior season, James was a Semper Fi All-American. Although South Allegheny struggled, winning only one of 10 games this past fall, James caught 18 passes, includ- ing three touchdown receptions, and was named to the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette's Fabulous 22 team. He later became the only early en- rollee in Penn State's recruiting class, beginning his academic career in Jan- uary at the start of the 2012 spring se- mester. PHIL'S ANALYSIS James certainly has 14 M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 2 grown during the past 18 months. He is now listed at 6-7, 248 pounds, but he still has 4.7-second 40-yard speed, giving him the capability of running the seam route. Recruited by Penn State exclusively as a tight end – very much a position of need this year – James will likely benefit from his January enrollment. He will be eligible to take part in prac- tice this spring. Austin JOHNSON DL, 6-4, 276 Richland, N.J. St. Augustine High Johnson and his future teammate Derek Dowrey will always be linked. They both entered Penn State's senior camp as unheralded recruits who had received minimal attention from FBS programs. But by the time they left campus that June afternoon, they were both Nittany Lions. Unlike Dowrey, Johnson hadn't even received a star rating from Rivals at the time of his commitment. But after Ri- vals took a closer look at his skill set, he was rated a three-star prospect. "A lot of people didn't see me on Ri- vals, and that is what everyone checks," Johnson said. "I'm not too worried about it, though. It's just a website that ranks everybody, and I got the school that I wanted to go to." After committing to Penn State, which he called his "dream school," Johnson received offers from Boston College, Syracuse, Tulane and Villano- va. By the end of his senior season, he was considered one of the best two-way lineman prospects in southern New Jersey. As a junior, Johnson started at cen- ter for the St. Augustine Prep basket- ball team. He helped lead the Hermits to the New Jersey State Non-Public Class A title last March. PHIL'S ANALYSIS Johnson, who excelled at Penn State's Senior-Only camp in June, is another versatile recruit with the capacity to play offense or defense at the college level. He reportedly has 5.0-second 40-yard speed, and his frame looks as though it can hold close to 300 pounds. It appears he will start Photo courtesy of Lucas family his career on defense, most likely at the three-technique tackle position. He has a very quick first step for a defensive tackle. Jake KILEY CB, 6-2, 173 New Hampton, N.H. New Hampton Prep Of this year's recruits, it's doubtful that anyone is more excited to be part of the Penn State family than Kiley. Af- ter receiving a verbal offer July 25, he needed only about 12 hours to make up his mind, committing the next morning. He did consider visiting Connecticut after Bill Kenney was dismissed along with most members of the previous coaching staff, but af- ter meeting with O'Brien Jan. 14, he reaffirmed his commitment. "My meeting with Coach O'Brien went really well," Kiley said. "I met with him for probably 40 minutes. We all met individually. With me, he talked about positioning, which I really liked. He still likes me [as a] cornerback, but he said he could try me at wide receiv- W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THE RIGHT FIT Lucas, a Massa- chusetts defen- sive back, was set to attend Temple before receiving an of- fer from the Li- ons' new coach- ing staff. "I'm re- ally happy that I'm going to get to play for a great school like Penn State," he said.

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