Blue White Illustrated

elected to make a brief visit that Friday to meet the newest members of the sta9. "There are a couple of new coaches there now, so my family and I wanted to meet with them," said Hickman, who is focused on Penn State and Ohio State and is planning to make a commitment later this spring. "The visit wasn't long at all. I sat down with the Coach [David] Corley and Coach [Tim] Banks for a while, and that was basically it. A;er that, we got food and went home. So it was a brief visit, but it was good to meet with every- one." Just a few days later, the sta9 hosted one of its top overall targets at any position, as 8ve-star running back Devyn Ford made his way to University Park on Feb. 19. The visit re- portedly went well, as Ford was the only prospect on campus that day. That al- lowed him to get plenty of one-on-one time with new running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider and o9en- sive coordinator Ricky Rahne. In early February, Ford narrowed his list down to six schools: Penn State, Clemson, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. Most believe that the Buckeyes and Hok- ies are Penn State's top competitors at this stage, but Ford plans to visit most of his top schools in the coming months. He will also use some of his o:cial visits during the new o:cial visit period, which begins April 1 and continues through June 24. In fact, Ford has already set his o:cial visit for Penn State. It will take place the weekend of the Blue-White Game, April 20-22. Ford plans to make a commitment in June. One week a;er Ford's visit, the Nittany Lions hosted one of the fastest-rising prospects in the Northeast, o9ensive lineman Xavier Truss. A four-star tackle from Warwick, R.I., Truss added an o9er from Penn State on Jan. 6 and has since seen his o9er sheet expand to 30 schools. The list includes many of the nation's elite, as Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State are just a handful of the power programs that are seeking his signature. Truss, who stands 6-foot-7, 325 pounds, was on spring break the week leading up to his visit to Penn State, so he traveled south to check out Alabama, Auburn and Clemson. His original plan had been to go home a;er seeing Auburn on Feb. 25, but he and his family decided to add one more visit to their itinerary. "I wasn't even planning on stopping in Happy Valley on my trip down south, but once I saw that we drove through Penn- sylvania, I knew I had to stop and visit my favorite place in the country," said Truss, who previously visited in November for the game against Nebraska. "We got to talk with the academic sta9 about the di9erent majors that I could go into. Honestly, we talked more academics than football. We also met with literally every coach on sta9, and I spent the en- tire day with Coach Franklin. I loved everyone's attitude during the trip. It was a great time." It was still unclear as of early March which prospects were planning to attend Penn State's upcoming junior day, but quarterback Taisun Phommachanh in- formed BWI that he intended to partici- pate. The Rivals250 prospect received an o9er from the Lions on Feb. 7. If he makes the trip, it will be his third to University Park, as he camped with the sta9 in the summer, then returned for the game against Pitt in September. The sta9's other top target at quarter- back, Garrett Shrader of Charlotte, N.C., con8rmed that he plans to take an uno:- cial visit to Penn State on March 26. Like Phommachanh, Shrader camped at PSU last summer. He also attended the Lasch Bash barbecue in July and the game against Michigan. ■ SAFETY FIRST Hickman, a four- star defensive back, is a team- mate of verbally committed quar- terback Taquan Roberson. Photo courtesy of Ri- vals.com

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