Blue White Illustrated

T he video is a horror movie parody, but it has a happy ending, at least for the Nittany Lion football program. At the end of the 2ve-minute clip, which was produced by The Players' Tribune and based on the hit 2lm "Get Out," four- star defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins throws on a Penn State ball cap, turns to the camera for a quick "We are" and speeds o4 in a silver sports sedan. With that appropriately dramatic 3ourish, the Cincinnati prospect ended his recruitment. Hawkins, whose father, Artrell, and uncle Andrew both played in the NFL, had been considering Ohio State, Alabama, Southern California and Cincinnati but chose the Nittany Lions in early August, becoming the latest ad- dition to a strong defensive line class. BWI recruiting reporter Ryan Snyder recently caught up with the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Hawkins to talk about the ins and outs of his recruitment. BWI Take me through the last few months of the recruiting process. For a while, it seemed as though Cincinnati was the school to beat. Was it as close as it appeared? HAWKINS For a while it was Cincinnati. I like their coaches a lot. Also, probably the main thing was that I knew a lot of their commits really well, being from Cincinnati. Also, with my parents going there, I knew the campus really well. I shot my [announcement] video about two weeks before I o5cially committed, but up until that point, it was down to the wire. That's why I kept pushing my commitment date back. I was still going back and forth between the two schools. But once I sat back and really looked at things, I felt like Penn State was the best option. BWI What were maybe two or three things that set Penn State apart? HAWKINS One of the biggest things with Penn State was the level of compe- tition. Obviously, I'm close with the coaches. I'm comfortable with them, but at the same time, if I don't come in and put in the work I'm supposed to do, plus put in a little extra, it's going to be tough for me to be a special player there. So that was important. I wanted to maximize the kind of player I can be and I felt like Penn State would allow me to do that. At Penn State, that's not going to be an issue at all. If you just look at my class, we have a handful of really good defensive linemen who can come in and excel at defensive end or tackle. The competition is going to be really high. So that was probably the 2rst thing, but also, if you look at the school itself, Penn State is unmatched in a lot of ways. They're second to not very many. The alumni base is incredible. I'm not sure if I want to get into broadcasting yet, but that's de2nitely something I'm inter- ested in. I feel like Penn State will allow me to explore my options. They'll allow me to look at the media side of things, but at the same time keep my options open. Those were really the two biggest things for me, but I'd say the third thing was playing in the Big Ten – going against schools like Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Those type of competitors make sure that you're going against the best every week. They'll make sure that you know where you're at in your development. That was a big part of this, too. BWI I know you su4ered an injury dur- ing preseason practice. Where are you at with your recovery right now? Do you expect to be back at some point this sea- son? HAWKINS I have a stress fracture in my foot that I've actually had for a while now. I didn't realize it because it wasn't very painful. I didn't really know about it at all. If I would have known about it, I would have allowed it to heal a long time ago. I ended up going to get it checked out, and it's just a minor injury. I have to stay out for a couple weeks and do some rehab and then I'll be 2ne. I could have played through it, but a6er talking to my high school coach, we all decided that it would be best for me to get back to 100 percent. We feel as if there will be more important games for us down the road toward the end of the season and into the playo4s. Obviously, I have a career to look out for after high school ball, too. So it was a mutual decision, and Penn State agreed with my decision to take a few weeks off and heal up. So, for now, I'm just focused on getting healthy so I can maximize my senior year when I'm back. BWI Sean Spencer is unlike any other defensive line coach, maybe any coach I've ever met. What was it about him that pulled you toward Penn State? HAWKINS For me, he was a huge deal. I'm lucky to come from a high school with a guy named Jim Huxel. He's renowned around our area for his in- tensity and the way he gets after things. He's really elevated my game, so I wanted to go to a place where I knew that the D-line coach would push me and make me better every day. It comes back to the idea of maximizing I N T E R V I E W A E N E A S H A W K I N S We have huge goals, not just as individuals but as a group' '

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