Blue White Illustrated

Illinois lineman set to make return visit to PSU A P R I L 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 Penn State is set to host offensive tackle Bryce Effner for the Blue-White Game this weekend. On March 22, the 6-foot- 5, 270-pound senior-to-be from Aurora, Ill., earned an offer from the Nittany Lions during his first unofficial visit to University Park. AAer that trip, he made it clear that Penn State was near the top of his list, so it's a positive sign that he and his family are making the nine-hour drive to Happy Valley just one month later. "When I visited the first time, it was a normal college visit, so I mainly just want to get back there so I can see what it's like for a game," Effner said. "I know it's only a spring game, but there's still going to be something like 70,000 people there, which is crazy. "I'm just trying to get my first real taste of what game day is like at Penn State." Throughout March, Effner had a few conversations with assistant coach Ricky Rahne, but he didn't really get to know his recruiting coach or the rest of the staff until he visited. He said he's now speaking with a handful of coaches, in- cluding head coach James Franklin, mul- tiple times a week. "I've been probably talking to them every two or three days. Not only that, but I'm also getting texts from basically all of their coaches," Effner said. "Every week, I have a FaceTime [conversation] with Coach [Matt] Limegrover, Coach Franklin and Coach Rahne. That's been great. I feel like we're really building a strong relationship." Penn State was the second Power Five program to extend a scholarship offer to Effner, following on the heels of Kansas. He also had seven offers at the time from schools outside the Power Five conferences, with most of those offers coming from the Mid-American Con- ference. But his list has since grown to 14 schools, as Duke, Maryland, Min- nesota, Syracuse and Western Michigan all made offers between March 31 and April 6. Effner has visited Duke, Illinois, North- western and North Carolina. He said that he still plans to wait and see which other programs may offer, as well as visit other schools. But BWI will be keeping a close eye on him while he's on campus this coming weekend. –R.S. Duke, Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Penn State. Enis visited Duke and USC in February, and he's also been to Arizona State a number of times. More visits are ex- pected to multiple schools this summer. Once he feels comfortable with his op- tions, Enis said he'll likely narrow his list. "I'll probably narrow everything down and release my top schools sometime in the summer," he said. "It depends on how all my visits go, plus any new offers, things like that. But it should be coming up in the next few months." Academically, Enis is leaning toward majoring in marketing, but with a full year of high school remaining, he still hasn't decided on exactly what he wants to pur- sue. However, he does know that academ- ics will play a major role in his decision. He also said that Penn State's distance from home – University Park is more than 2,000 miles from Phoenix – won't have a major impact when he decides. "The distance isn't going to really im- pact me," he said. "I just want to find a place where I can compete and play, but also get a great education. "It's great that my dad also has a lot of history at Penn State. I think that's really cool, plus their coaches seem really cool. The program is definitely on the rise right now. I think Penn State is a good oppor- tunity for me. I'm excited to check it all out myself." During his junior season, Enis totaled 1,144 yards on only 64 receptions, aver- aging just under 18 yards per catch. He was also North Canyon's second-leading rusher, totaling 318 yards. He scored 14 total touchdowns. Enis also competes on North Canyon's track and field team, averaging 22.3 sec- onds in the 200-meter race and 21 feet, 4 inches in the long jump so far this season. The Nittany Lions are expecting to have several dozen prospects on hand this weekend, including most of the 12 ver- bally committed players in their Class of 2018. Among those committed players is another legacy prospect, defensive back Isaiah Humphries, the son of former Penn State cornerback Leonard Humphries. Effner received his offer from James Franklin during a visit to Penn State last month. A three-star offensive tackle from Aurora, Ill., Effner will be back on campus this coming weekend for the Blue-White Game. Photo courtesy of Bryce Effner

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