Blue White Illustrated

A three-star quarterback prospect from Middletown, Conn., Will Levis hit the camp circuit this summer in hope of increasing his recruiting exposure and claiming some more o7ers along the way. He did just that. Levis made stops at Iowa, North Car- olina, Syracuse, Connecticut and Florida State, earning scholarship o7ers following each visit. Then he traveled to Penn State, where the 6-foot-4, 222- pound senior-to-be turned in an im- pressive time in the 40-yard dash and slung the football all over Holuba Hall. A9erward, head coach James Franklin, o7ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and the rest of the coaching sta7 joined the competition for his signature, extending a Penn State scholarship o7er. And with that, the competition all but ended. Levis returned to campus the morning a9er his camp appearance to inform the sta7 that University Park would be his ultimate destination. A9er returning home to Connecticut, Levis spoke with Blue White Illus- trated's Tim Owen about his recruit- ment. Here's what he had to say: BWI You committed on Saturday morning, then two wide receivers fol- lowed you. Was that a coincidence? LEVIS Yes. There were already a tremendous amount of athletes in the class. That was just a bonus when I committed to be part of the family. For two more [receivers] to follow suit a9er me is absolutely incredible. Watching this class grow even before I committed and then watching it grow a little more even a9er has just been unbelievable. There are going to be some awesome players at every position. It's going to be a really interesting class for us. BWI How familiar are you with those two, Shaquon Anderson-Butts and Daniel George? And Justin Shorter, of course, too? LEVIS I knew Justin a little bit. I've been to a bunch of camps and combines with him and thrown to him prior to us knowing we would be playing together. He was de6nitely the best receiver at all of the combines that I've been to. To see that we're going to college together is pretty cool. Shaquon, I didn't know him much be- fore the visit but I got to know him a lit- tle bit at Penn State during the day. We were both kind of like the new guys of the family. Us two got good treatment by all the other guys. Daniel George, I met at the [visit] as well, but I ran into him again a9er we both le9, actually, on campus. We went into a little gi9 shop to get some gear and I ran into him. I didn't know where his mind was at, and I was picking his brain and he actually told me then that he was going to be joining the class the next day. That was really, really cool. Obviously, we had a great time there. And I had a good conversation with Coach Franklin. It was good to get to know all of them. All the receivers and the tight ends, Pat [Freiermuth] and Zack [Kuntz], and ob- viously all the other athletes at all the other positions are just unbelievable. BWI When we chatted before the trip, you said the coaches were interested. You knew that going in. So how signi6cant of a role did the actual camp workout play? Take me through how Friday went. LEVIS We actually got in Thursday around 4 or 5 o'clock. We got a good tour of campus and all the facilities and met the coaches. Then we came back the next day around noon and spent a lot of time with Coach Moorhead going over 6lm and talking. Basically, he explained how excited he was for me to work out and wanted me to do really well. I knew that if I went out there and performed well and did what he wanted me to do, there would be a good shot at them o7ering me. I mean, I didn't want to expect anything going into camp. I just knew if I went out there and treated it like any other work- out, like I always do, and did my best and threw well, then there would be a shot at it. So I went out there, and one thing they wanted to look out for was my athleti- cism. It was really good. All the coaches were watching me run and do all that. I ran a 4.69-second 40, so that was pretty good for them to see that, that I can run the ball and be athletic when necessary. Then when I threw I did really well there, and then I did another extra workout a9erward with Coach Moor- head when everyone le9, which I did well at as well. Then a9er that, that's when I went up to the coaches' o8ce and got to talk to Coach Moorhead, Coach Franklin and Coach [Sean] Spencer and that's when they extended the o7er – Friday a9er camp. I knew that if the opportunity was given to me that I would want to join the class and just join Penn State football. Then the next morning, I went back to the facilities to talk to Coach Franklin. I gave him that news, and that's when it became o8cial. BWI So did you have to go back to sleep on it Friday night? I N T E R V I E W W I L L L E V I S I've always loved being the person to lead and guide other people' '

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