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LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M he ever-evolving recruiting calen- dar just changed again, at least as far as Penn State is concerned. This latest alteration isn't due to some new NCAA regulation or a vote from coaches across the country. Rather, it's James Franklin and his staff getting creative and pushing the envelope in their quest to build a roster that perennially con- tends for championships. One facet of that approach involves getting recruits on campus as soon as possible. The reasoning goes that there is more time for weightlifting and training, adjusting to life away from home and, just as important, getting a head start on accumulating college credits. In January, six incoming freshmen en- rolled early after a winter graduation from high school. The total tied for the most since Franklin was hired by PSU, but he wants that number to increase – and he's not waiting until next year to make it happen. This month, aligning with the start of the first of two six-week summer ses- sions at University Park on May 14, Franklin welcomed four more members of his Class of 2018 to campus. By achieving graduation requirements just in time, quarterback Will Levis, tight end Pat Freiermuth and defensive line- men Judge Culpepper and P.J. Mustipher all were eligible to get an early start on their college careers. "Some of them were able to do it be- cause school was out, and some of them were able to do it because they talked to their high schools and were strong enough students that the high schools worked with them," Franklin said. It's a rare occurrence at Penn State and unprecedented under Franklin, as freshmen traditionally don't show up until the second session of classes in June. But now, nearly half of the 23 members of the incoming class are al- ready living in the dorms, officially stu- dent-athletes. While it's new around the Lasch Building, it used to be the norm for Franklin. His previous head coaching stop was in the Southeastern Confer- ence, where it's common practice for the freshman class to enroll in May. He found benefits to that timeline. "They're going to get another six weeks of training on our campus," Franklin said. "It's very similar to how it was when I was at [Vanderbilt] because the Southern schools get out a lot ear- lier, so we actually got the whole fresh- man class on our campus probably about a month earlier than we do at Penn State typically." That might be changing now, espe- cially if this first attempt goes well. The plan for Levis, Freiermuth, Culpepper and Mustipher to come in May has been in motion for months. They are eager teenagers who are ex- cited about moving on to the next stage of their life and becoming college stu- dents sooner than they might have orig- inally thought. They might have done so without realizing that they are setting an example for others to follow in the years to come. Levis, who is from Connecticut and was set to walk at Xavier High School's graduation ceremony one week after ar- riving at PSU, talked frequently with Freiermuth, who is from Massachusetts, about getting to campus as soon as they could. Why wait until June? But they weren't sure if there was another op- tion. "Pat and I have talked about it for a while and we weren't even aware there was an earlier May date, because we are actually the first [PSU freshman foot- ball players to enroll in May] so it's new for [the coaches] too," Levis said. "This process was new for them as well as for us, but we figured if we can, we might as well get there as early as possible. Since our school didn't allow us to early enroll [in January] we wanted to get there as early as possible." The chance to get some credits was a big part of the appeal. "I'll take a couple classes," Levis said. "There won't be too many people there for the [first session] but we're glad to get some classes out of the way and get training started." That leaves only 13 incoming fresh- men who will arrive for the second ses- sion of summer classes in late June. One of the next items on Franklin's agenda is to shrink that total in the future – not by signing fewer prospects, but by en- couraging his signees to follow an aca- demic path that will get them to PSU sooner, whether it's six months or six weeks. Every little bit makes a differ- ence. In recent years, some of the nation's top programs have been bringing in about 10 January enrollees, and as Franklin noted, "That's a trend that's going to continue to get bigger and big- ger." The Penn State coach wants his program to follow suit, but sometimes the decisions are out of his control. Some high schools don't allow winter graduations. But a week or two early in May? Now that's a more reasonable compromise. Although Franklin would prefer Janu- ary and a full spring semester of accli- mation, a six-week head start still has its advantages. "The more time you can get in the summer to work through some of those adjustments, you get more comfortable, it's really valuable," he said. If it proves valuable enough this go- around, look for this to be just the start. ■ Not a moment too soon T

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