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dummies, doing di0erent defensive line drills. We work on that extensively throughout the week. I'm always trying to get better at using my hands and things like that. Then, on the weekends when we don't have seven-on-seven, I go train with a local trainer, Robert Marve. He used to play quarterback at Plant. He then went on to play at Miami and Purdue. He always works with me on hip explosions, hand-eye coordina- tion drills, di0erent things like that. So I can de/nitely say that this has been a full summer. I've been really getting a1er it hard because I felt like I just scratched the surface last season when it comes to how good I can really be. I want to prove to everyone this year why I re- ceived these o0ers and why I'm commit- ted to play at a big-time school like Penn State. I want to show everyone that I can compete at Penn State my freshman year. BWI Do you happen to know some of your max testing numbers? CULPEPPER Yeah, I'm maxing at 505 [pounds] on the squat, 505 on the dead- li1, 355 on the bench press and 300 even on the power clean. BWI I wanted to ask about academics. Penn State really prioritizes that, so how did it impact you and your family? Also, do you know yet what you want to major in? CULPEPPER When we went up there, we really didn't have to go over anything academically. My family already knew what Penn State was about academi- cally. We did that research on our own. Academics at Penn State speak for themselves, so when we went up there, we were mainly focused on football. I al- ready knew that this was one of the best academic schools, probably the best ac- ademic school, that I was considering. As for what I want to major in, I'm not 100 percent sure yet. One thing that in- terests me, that not a lot of people know, is that I love cooking, so I wouldn't mind being a chef and studying culinary arts or something like that. I've always en- joyed cooking. But other than that, I may want to follow in my dad's footsteps and be a lawyer. So I may end up going to law school or something like that. I have some time to /gure that all out. BWI What do your mom and dad think about Penn State? Your dad has ties to Florida, and now you're going pretty far from home. I imagine proximity to home wasn't much of a factor. CULPEPPER No, proximity to home didn't play much of a factor for me. What did have an impact was my prox- imity to my brother. That was some- thing my parents really liked. Syracuse is only a few hours away from State Col- lege, so if for some reason there was a family emergency or something like that, he's not that far from me. Obvi- ously, my parents liked Florida, and I liked Florida, too. It would have been re- ally cool to follow in my dad's footsteps, but ultimately, they wanted me to be my own man. We all agreed that the best decision for me was Penn State. Right now, Penn State is on the rise, and I feel like I really /t in there. My parents felt the exact same way, so that's why this wasn't as hard a decision as some may have thought. Penn State checked all the boxes. They know those coaches are going to take care of me. Plus, going away from home will allow me to spread my wings a bit. BWI I like to give recruits an opportu- nity to say something to the fans. It can be anything you'd like to tell them. What comes to mind? CULPEPPER I'm really honored and humbled to be part of such an unbeliev- able program and to play for such a great fan base. I just want them to know that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Penn State gets back to winning na- tional championships. I already think they're pretty close. They just won the Big Ten last season and now they bring back a loaded squad. I'm looking for- ward to making sure that my class and the other classes do everything we can to keep that momentum going into the fu- ture. ■ COMMITTED A four-star defensive lineman from Plant, Fla., Culpep- per bonded with Nittany Lions assis- tant coach Sean Spencer during his recruitment. Photo courtesy of Culpep- per family

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