Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916653
T here were other universities closer to home. Their football programs o6ered similar winning traditions, and his par- ents wanted him to completely think it through before going farther away than necessary for college. But there was just something about Penn State. So Leonard Humphries, an Akron, Ohio, native, told his mom that he was bypassing the in-state Buckeyes for the Nittany Lions. That was in 1988. Nearly 30 years later, Humphries 5nds himself in an eerily similar position. Only the roles have been reversed. His 5rst-born son, Isaiah, begins his Penn State career as an early enrollee in January. But before he followed in Dad's footsteps, Leonard wanted Isaiah to be studious in exploring other options. A three-star safety with a district- record 15 career interceptions at Sachse (Texas) High, Isaiah Humphries received scholarships from across the country. Be- fore narrowing his choices, Leonard en- couraged him to check out each suitor. They visited places far away, like Clem- son, Florida, Florida State, Stanford, UCLA and USC, and they visited some that were closer to home, like Oklahoma, LSU, TCU and Texas A&M. "I took visits to all these places, because you can't re- ally ever see too many places," Isaiah said. Before all of them, he had seen Penn State. Born in Indianapolis, where Leonard last played in the NFL for the Colts, Isaiah has lived most of his life in Texas. All along, he heard stories of his father's glory days. Not until he visited PSU dur- ing the spring of his sophomore year, however, did he fully grasp what Leonard was trying to explain. "I went up there and I saw the stadium and everything, and the people and the whole environment and I was like, dang. This is the place," Isaiah said. "But I'm going to still keep looking." It would serve as a measuring stick against which to evaluate the rest. "I was sold from that point on," said Isaiah, who stands 5-foot-11, 185 pounds. "I went places and it helped a lot, though, because I compared it to Penn State and then checked it o6 the list." It was an approach that Isaiah couldn't help but absorb from his father, and a sce- nario about which Leonard once dreamed for his son. But as reality began to settle in that his oldest might soon be leaving home, there was a pause. Growing up, Isaiah and his younger sib- lings, Jessica and Joshua, could barely go anywhere new without their dad com- paring the setting to Happy Valley. "Dude, Dad, you're always talking about how it's not like Penn State," Isaiah o7en said to him. "You're so biased, and my sister felt the same way. Then we went [to visit] and were like, You're kind of right." By his junior football season, Isaiah had seen enough and decided that PSU would be his destination. But at the time, Leonard wasn't as sure. Head coach James Franklin and his sta6 had initially been slow to o6er. Southern Methodist and Oklahoma came 5rst. PSU was third, and many others would follow, but the o6er was conditional on a camp visit. In the meantime, parental instincts kicked in as Leonard realized that, if his son indeed followed his path, it would take him far from home when closer op- tions were appealing, too. The Sooners had caught the attention of both father and son, but especially father. The turnover among PSU's coaches in re- cent years wasn't something that he was used to. With Oklahoma, at the time, he saw a rare semblance of continuity. "I liked that because I had that with Joe," he said. "Then being only three hours away, I thought maybe he might have been going there." But when the time came, the compar- isons to Penn State won out. The Nittany Lions hadn't been the 5rst to o6er, but that, too, paralleled Leonard's career. In the 1980s, it took a camp visit to con- vince Joe Paterno to extend an o6er to Leonard. That's also when Leonard de- termined where he was meant to be. "I just loved it and had a great time and just happened to outperform everybody," he U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L | THE HUMPHRIES FILE STATS Intercepted seven passes as a senior at Sachse High to lead the 6A divi- sion in Texas... Had 53 tackles, five inter- ceptions and two fumble recoveries as a junior... Finished his career with a district- record 15 career interceptions HONORS Named a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 73 prospect in Texas and the No. 41 safety nationally Rivals.com CLICK HERE to see video of Humphries in action. Humphries follows a familiar path to Penn State SEE HUMPHRIES PAGE 66