Blue White Illustrated

T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 9 >> At junior day, PSU focuses on next year and beyond For daily and breaking news updates on Penn State football recruiting, visit bwi.rivals.com. P enn State hosted more than two dozen prospects Feb. 3 for its 8rst junior day of 2018. As with last year's 8rst junior day, which took place in the 8nal week of January, the coaching sta9 kept its list of invitees short. That allowed James Franklin and his assistants to spend more one-on-one time with the players who made the trip. The list was primarily made up of prospects in the Class of 2019 who already held a scholarship o9er from the Nittany Lions, but Franklin did extend one 2019 o9er to defensive back Noa Pola-Gates. A four-star prospect from the Phoenix area, Pola-Gates has attracted interest from al- most all of the top programs in the Pac-12. He holds 12 scholarship o9ers, including o9ers from Arizona, Arizona State, Louisville, Nebraska, Oregon, Southern Cal, Utah and Washington. At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, he's expected to play safety at the college level. Wide receiver John Metchie was an- other notable prospect on campus for junior day. Originally from Canada, Metchie is a Class of 2018 prospect who attends Saint James School in Hager- stown, Md. Due to his age, he decided to reclassify to the Class of 2019 and will at- tend at least one semester at a prep school next fall a;er graduating from Saint James this spring. Metchie earned an o9er from the sta9 during its 8nal prospect camp in July and returned to University Park for four games last fall, including the White Out victory over Michigan. A close friend of fellow Canadian and current freshman linebacker Jesse Luketa, he has made it clear that the Nittany Lions are in excel- lent position. In fact, the main reason Metchie returned to Penn State for junior day and not for a personal visit later in the year was so he could spend the weekend with Luketa and several other early en- rollees. "I got on campus Friday night [Feb. 2] and I got to spend a lot of time with the guys," Metchie said. "I was with Jesse, Micah [Parsons] and P.J. [Mustipher]. … It was a lot of fun being around those guys. "On Saturday I had the junior day, and that was good, too. I got to surround my- self with all of their coaches. I had good talks with Coach [David] Corley, Coach [Tyler] Bowen, Coach [Ricky] Rahne and Coach Franklin. … So it was a real nice visit. It was nice to get around the players and get a feel for not only the guys on the team, but the life around campus." Another top 2019 prospect who will bear watching in the coming months is o9ensive lineman Caedan Wallace. Like Metchie, the 6-4, 330-pound Wallace was making his sixth uno:cial visit to Penn State. He's made it clear that the Lions are among his early favorites, but unlike Metchie, he has a plan for when he'll decide. "A;er talking to my family about some things, I decided that I'm going to start using my o:cial visits in April and May," Wallace said. "I still haven't decided what schools I'm going to use those visits for. I would like to see some schools uno:- cially before then, but I've decided that I'm going to use my o:cials this spring and then make my decision in the sum- mer. Once we get closer to April, then I'll 8gure out which schools I'm going to use my o:cial visits to see." He added that Penn State "is in a great spot. They have a great program, but it's not just about football with them. They have great academics, too. They also won their bowl game this year and they're in a great spot to continue that. I really like that I would be able to come in there and continue to help the program rise." Linebacker Andre White of Harrisburg, Pa., is another prospect with a strong in- terest in Penn State. A 6-3, 215-pound outside linebacker, White earned an o9er from the sta9 in December. He visited twice last season to see the games against Pitt and Georgia State, but he wasn't able to have an extended conversation with the coaching sta9 or tour the facilities and campus until his most recent visit for junior day. "What really stood out was just seeing all Penn State has to o9er," White said. "They really have so many resources that it's hard to not prosper at the school. "What stood out is the individual time I had with all the coaches. I'm pretty sure over this weekend I met and talked with every coach there. I like the fact that it feels like they really care for the players. They're worried about their academics and then athletics, not just one or the other. I respect that." The event may be labeled a junior day, but there were several sophomores and even freshmen in attendance. Rising jun- ior running back Jalen Berger of Ramsey, N.J., is the most coveted of those under- classmen. Despite having played only two seasons of high school football, Berger has already earned 15 scholarship o9ers, many from elite programs such as Ala- bama, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Fortunately for the Lions, Berger has al- ready shown that he's very interested in Franklin's program, as this visit marked his fourth trip to University Park. "It's the best visit I've been on so far," Berger said. "I got to tour the educational buildings and talk with Coach Franklin |

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