Blue White Illustrated

Blue-White Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 16 times we don't even talk about football. We talk about life and things like that. They also have a really good relationship with my family. My parents trust the coaches a lot." Reed, who checks in at 6-5, 334 pounds, is expected to play tackle, but he could also move inside to guard. A native of Muskegon, Mich., he earned 11 total scholarship offers, including offers from Michigan and Michigan State. Other schools that extended offers were Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. "When we were there last year, we heard them talk about how they're close to taking that next step, how they're close to winning a Big Ten championship and so on," said Muskegon head coach Shane Fairfield following Reed's visit to Penn State in February. "Well, when we returned a year later, sure enough, they've done all that. There aren't too many schools in the country that can ac- tually back up the things they were say- ing when we visited last year, so I think that's important. During this visit, when they were talking about taking that next step and becoming a big-time player on the national scene, you can't help but take them seriously because they've proven before that they mean what they say." Bleich's decommitment followed a se- ries of recent visits to other schools. Committed to Penn State since April 2016, he was the second prospect to join the Nittany Lions' Class of 2018. Since then he went on to visit Pittsburgh, Mis- sissippi State and Nebraska. His most re- cent offer came from the Cornhuskers, and then he traveled to Lincoln last week for their spring game. The 6-foot-5, 308-pound lineman from Plymouth, Pa., told HuskerOnline.com after that trip that the experience might make him re- consider his decision. "It's something that I'm going to have to really sit down and think about," he said. At 7 a.m. Friday, Bleich made the call. Via his personal Twitter account, he an- nounced that he was decommitting from the Nittany Lions, explaining that he had ended his recruitment before having the opportunity to visit other schools. "After many months of discussions with my family I came to the conclusion it's in my best interest to re-open my re- cruitment and de-commit from PSU," he wrote. "I committed too young in my sophomore year. This only happens once, and I just want to make sure I explore all my options. I just want to say thank you to the PSU coaching staff for giving me an opportunity and believing in me." A three-star prospect, Bleich holds of- fers from Connecticut, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Texas State and UCF. Rivals.com ranks him No. 38 among all offensive tackles in the Class of 2018. He's considered the 16th-best prospect in Pennsylvania. Penn State now has 13 prospects com- mitted in its Class of 2018. They're cur- rently No. 2 in the nation according to Rivals.com. Reed visits the Lasch Building during a recent trip to Penn State. The four-star offensive line- man from Muskegon, Mich., announced on Saturday that he will sign with the Nittany Lions. Photo courtesy of Antwan Reed

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