Blue White Illustrated

November 2017

Penn State Sports Magazine

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keep learning and improving on. It's all about technique, and there are a lot of di6erent techniques that defensive tackles need to use compared to defen- sive end. BWI I know it's probably been a while since you maxed out in the weight room, but do you remember your numbers from the o6-season? HAWKINS Yeah, my last max was way back in May, but I remember my totals. On deadli7, I hit 600. My power clean is 275, and my bench is three reps at 315. My squat number is 545. BWI Can you talk about your relation- ship with the committed players at Penn State? Who have you become the closest with over the past year? How did they impact your commitment? HAWKINS I would say that P.J. [Mustipher] is probably the guy I'm the closest with. I ran into him all the time, not just at Penn State, but at Ohio State and other big schools. It's funny, be- cause I used to always look at him as my competition. Obviously, he's a great ballplayer, and now that he's going to be one of my future teammates it's great knowing he's going to be right alongside me someday. As for everyone else, I always knew Jesse Luketa really well, but I didn't re- ally know everyone until the Lasch Bash. That was a fun event, but [the weekend of the Pitt game] was one of the 5rst chances for me to sit down with everyone and just relax and get to know them. I hung out a lot with Nana [Asiedu], Ricky [Slade] and Justin Shorter a lot. It was great just hanging out with them, and honestly, I was really im- pressed, too. They're all super talented, but they're all really good guys. If you didn't know who they were, you would never think that they're big-time foot- ball players. They're all level-headed, and that's a big theme of our class and one thing I really loved about what Coach [James] Franklin is doing here. The culture he's trying to instill, it's im- pressive. You go to other places and it's just about ball. That's not the case at Penn State. It's about much more than that. BWI How hard are you working on the other defensive linemen to get them to join this class? HAWKINS Of course, I'm working on guys all the time. I'm already very close with Tyreke Smith. I probably talk to him a few times each week. I know he's going to be an amazing football player, no matter where he ends up. He's a good dude and smart guy, too. He comes from a great family, so he's probably the guy I work on the most, but of course I talk to Jayson [Oweh] and Micah [Parsons], as well. I'm not going to name names, but I know we're going to get at least one more elite defensive lineman. That's all I'll say. BWI Last question: I like to give you all an opportunity to say something to the Penn State fans. Is there anything you'd like to say to everyone? It can be about whatever you would like. HAWKINS I would just say that, I know how good Penn State is now. I know how talented they are now and that they have huge goals for this year, but just wait until our class gets there. We're already very close, and you all know how tal- ented this class is. We have huge goals, not just as individuals but as a group. I know the classes before me were that way and I'm sure the 2019 class will be the same way. So I hope you guys are ready and excited to support us, because we're all really excited about our four years at Penn State. The future is really bright at Penn State. ■ NAME POS HT WT RATING HOME SCHOOL Eyabi Anoma DE 6-5 225 ★★★★ Baltimore, Md. St. Frances Academy Solomon Enis WR 6-4 200 ★★★★ Phoenix, Ariz. North Canyon Jayson Oweh DE 6-5 240 ★★★★ Blairstown, N.J. Blair Academy Micah Parsons DE 6-3 235 ★★★★★ Harrisburg, Pa. Harrisburg Kwantel Raines DB 6-3 190 ★★★★ Aliquippa, Pa. Aliquippa Rick Sandidge DT 6-5 263 ★★★★ Concord, N.C. Concord Tyreke Smith DE 6-4 250 ★★★★ Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights Rasheed Walker OL 6-5 265 ★★★★ Waldorf, Md. North Point * As of Oct. 15 2018 HOT LIST *

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