Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916653
signing period, hosting three of their top remaining prospects: defensive end Micah Parsons of Harrisburg, Pa., defen- sive tackle Tyreke Smith of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and o4ensive lineman Rasheed Walker of Walford, Md. The three prospects took o5cial visits Dec. 8- 10, the same weekend in which the Nit- tany Lions hosted 15 players who had already committed to the program. The timing of the visits allowed the commit- ted players to chip away at the three play- ers who had yet to make a pledge. Parsons, a 3ve-star prospect, "loved hanging out with all the other players," said his father, Terrence Parsons. "His host was C.J. Thorpe, the freshman of- fensive lineman from [Pittsburgh] Central Catholic. He was great to Micah. He really gave him a heads-up on what it's like to be a player there, especially during his fresh- man year. That's a big adjustment, on the 3eld and o4 the 3eld. For C.J., he went from being the star player on his team throughout high school to redshirting this year. That's a big adjustment, so he was just letting Micah know what's ex- pected of him if he ends up at Penn State. C.J. was great. He was very helpful. "As far as the other commits, Micah is already very close with a bunch of those guys. He's been talking to some of them for basically two years now, so he enjoyed seeing them all again. Those guys were very up-front about wanting Micah to join them. They think he can help their class be special." Before making his decision, which was expected to take place Dec. 20, Parsons was scheduled to take an o5cial visit to Georgia the weekend of Dec. 15-17. The nation's top-ranked weakside defensive end and 36h-ranked player overall, Par- sons had been to Athens this past Febru- ary but hadn't been able to spend a weekend with Kirby Smart and his coaching sta4. Oklahoma, which hosted Parsons for an o5cial visit in November,