Blue White Illustrated

FOOT B A LL RE C RU I T I NG Breneman, Hackenberg personify class's commitment to Penn State STANDING FIRM BY RYAN SNYDER Blue White Illustrated A lot has changed at Penn State during the past few months, but there's been one constant amid all the tumult: high school standouts Adam Breneman and Christian Hack- enberg are still fully committed to the Nittany Lions. For most elite prospects, making a verbal commitment means no more calls from the media asking the same questions over and over. That hasn't been the case for the linchpins of Penn State's Class of 2013, but no matter how much they may want to just relax after a tough workout or practice, both have embraced the opportunity to reaf- firm their original commitment. Ap- pearing everywhere from Rivals.com to ESPN's "College Football Live," they have let the Nittany Lion faithful and other potential prospects know they are 100 percent committed to Bill O'Brien and the future of Penn State football. "Any kid would be nervous going on ESPN," Hackenberg said, referring to his recent interview on "College Football Live." "But I really wanted to use that opportunity to let everyone know what I and all of the other commits stand for at Penn State. I wanted to take that as an opportunity to let other prospects know that this is a great school, both for football and academi- cally." While both would admit that it's pretty cool being able to find hundreds of stories and photos of themselves with a simple Google search, none of this has been easy on them. Recruiting websites have become a multimillion- Logan Cramer III dollar business, and for elite recruits – Hackenberg and Breneman are Penn State's most highly touted prospects since Derrick Williams and Justin King in 2005 – the spotlight isn't as glam- orous as some fans would like to FOLLOW RECRUITING ONLINE Visit bwi.rivals.com for updated news on PSU's scholarship offers and commitments. PENN STATE COMMITMENTS* NAME POS HT WT 40 HOME Brandon Bell Adam Breneman Curtis Cothran Kasey Gaines SCHOOL LB 6-1 224 4.6 Mays Landing, N.J. Oakcrest TE 6-5 220 – Camp Hill, Pa. DE 6-5 225 – Newtown, Pa. DB 5-10 160 4.44 Loganville, Ga. Grayson Christian Hackenberg QB 6-4 215 4.84 Fork Union, Va. Tanner Hartman OL 6-4 247 4.9 Lynchburg, Va. Brendan Mahon OL 6-5 302 – Andrew Nelson Neiko Robinson Garrett Sickels Jordan Smith OL 6-5 265 – Randolph, N.J. Hershey, Pa. DB 5-11 170 4.51 Bratt, Fla. * As of Oct. 16 TEAM PLAYERS Breneman, left, is set to enroll at Penn State in January, while Hackenberg, right, is expected to arrive next summer. Fork Union Military Academy Liberty Christian Academy Randolph Hershey Northview DE 6-4 225 4.7 Little Silver, N.J. Red Bank Regional DB 6-0 180 4.5 Washington, D.C. H.D. Woodson Cedar Cliff Council Rock North

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