Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79325
"I committed on July 24. I just wanted to keep it to my family and I until I felt the time was right," Smith said. "When I came up and watched practice, met with the coaches and everyone, I knew I made the right decision. I was already confident, but I just wanted to check out everything one more time, and I'm happy I did. "I really enjoyed watching practice and the way the coaches do things. The staff has a plan, and I believe in that plan. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity." Smith attended camp at Penn State on June 2, and received his verbal scholarship offer from the staff on July 24. Colorado, Kansas and Hawaii were three additional programs that verbally offered scholarships, and Smith was also being recruited hard by Illinois, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Buffalo. Despite those other opportunities and the sanctions against Penn State, Smith made it clear that in his mind, the positives surrounding the university far outweighed the negatives. "First of all, what always stood out to me were really the academics," he said. "PSU is a great academic institution. I know a degree from there speaks vol- umes in the job market. Also, the foot- ball tradition. When you grow up as a young kid playing ball, you always see yourself playing at a certain school, and for me, I always dreamed about playing in that blue and white. So it's just the perfect place for me." The 6-foot, 180-pound two-star recruit plans to enroll at Penn State in Janu- ary. He and Adam Breneman are the only two verbally committed prospects who currently plan to enroll early and get a head start in spring practice. It's still not clear whether Smith will play safety or cornerback for the Nittany Lions. Nittany Lions make late additions to Class of 2012 A s Penn State's roster was being raid- ed after the NCAA's decision to allow current players to transfer, Bill O'Brien tried to fill a few of those empty spots before camp started Aug. 6. The staff knew that linebacker Khairi Fortt was considering a transfer to Cal- ifornia, so assistant recruiting coordi- nator Bill Kavanaugh and defensive coordinator Ted Roof decided to be proac- tive, reaching out to several Class of 2012 prospects who could potentially fill his po- sition. After considering players who were set to either walk on at another program or to enroll at junior college, the staff found what it hopes turns out to be a diamond in the rough. That player is Brennan Franklin, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound line- backer from Centennial High School in Peoria, Ariz. He accepted a scholarship offer and committed to Penn State on July 27. Kavanaugh and Roof "basically told FRANKLIN me that they really liked me and planned on giving me a scholarship," he said. "They just had to make sure all the paperwork went through. "Once that all checked out, they said they would love to have me up there, and honestly, I would love to be out there. It's a great situation for me, [de- spite] all the stuff that has happened. That honestly doesn't matter to me. This is Linebacker U. I plan on coming in to compete, no matter what the cir- cumstances are." A four-year varsity starter, Franklin transferred to Centennial High School for his senior season. He said the transfer was one reason he was "over- looked a bit" by Division I schools, adding that he had to learn a brand new system while making the transition to a higher level of competition. "I ended up with eight or nine [Football Championship Subdivision] offers," he said. "Plus, schools like Mississippi State, Arizona and Arizona State basi- cally said I could walk on or join the team six months from now and then get a scholarship. "So after all those, I basically decided after sitting down with my dad to go to Eastern Arizona for this season and then check out a few schools in six months. Arizona has a lot of good com- munity colleges and juco schools, so I was going to do that this season and then probably check out Arizona, Mis- sissippi [State] or Arizona State. Basi- cally, all three of those schools said that if I wait six months, they'll end up giving me a scholarship." Franklin said Penn State was actually the first Football Bowl Subdivision school to express an interest in him, as members of Joe Paterno's staff reached out during his sophomore year. That interest seemed to drop off after O'Brien's staff took over in Janu- ary. Franklin received a few letters but didn't get the feeling that he would have a chance to play for the Lions. That all changed on July 25 when the coaches presented him with a scholarship offer. Two days later, Franklin accepted. "Penn State would have been my No. 1 no matter who offered," he said. "That's Linebacker U, and I really like them. I was so excited." Franklin moved into his dorm at Penn State on Aug. 3 and was in attendance for the first day of camp. The Lions also recently added Florida linebacker/defensive end Gary Wooten to their roster. A Hialeah native, Wooten was set to begin practicing at Penn State on Aug. 20. -R.S.