July 28, 2010

Wednesday Recruitin': The August Rush

Apologies for not having our normal Tuesday recruiting segment. I got caught up in the depth chart stuff last night.

The LBU recruiting board is finally updated, so be sure to check that out. There is quite the buzz around the recruiting circles, as now that Angelo Mangiro is on board for 2011, everyone is waiting to see how the next few weeks will shake out. Commitments die out before football season, so August and these last few days of July will be critical for setting up a big winter if Penn State wants to end this recruiting season with a bang.

NC DB Dominique Noble isn't the highest-rated recruit on Penn State's recruiting board this year, but if the Nittany Lions could grab him out of North Carolina, and away from a rising program like Georgia Tech, it would help solidify this class as anything but a bust.

Oh, and he was on campus yesterday! I'll probably do a short update about that, if anything interesting comes from the visit. So keep an eye out for that.

Noble told BWI ($) that Penn State will have to work for his commitment:
"I really do like Penn State. At the beginning of this, they were like at the top. Hopefully for them they can change my mind, but if not, it will be Georgia Tech."
That's not the kind of thing you want to hear, but you have to imagine that GT is going hard after a guy one state over from them. Noble said he wants to basically be catered to up and down, which doesn't seem to fit right with Penn State's (read:JoePa's) image. Still, Penn State shouldn't drop the ball here, and better swallow its pride and schmooze this kid.

MD DL Darian Cooper has a strong relationship with Larry Johnson, Sr., giving Penn State a unique in-road with the DeMatha prospect. Cooper told FOS ($) that it's not always a bad thing when a recruiter doesn't call a prospect every single day. He cited Johnson telling him how one call per week would be the norm, and Cooper liked the fact that LJS wasn't breathing down his neck 24/7. So, for all those out there freaking out about Penn State's perceived lack of aggression on the recruiting trail, keep in mind that one shoe doesn't always fit every recruit.

WV RB Alan Wasonga is quietly becoming Penn State's No. 2 tailback target for 2011, should Savon Huggins not work out--heaven forbid that should actually happen. Wasonga is rated as the top prospect out of West Virginia, but has been rumored to have Penn State as his No. 1 choice. The problem with that, though, is that Penn State hasn't officially offered him a scholarship. But again, that could be on hold until well after the staff evaluates how his visit went yesterday (7/27), or if Huggins pulls the trigger early.

MD ATH Darius Jennings will be on campus next Tuesday. This is great news, after he reportedly rescheduled a planned July 31 visit. Usually, rescheduling a visit means a recruit has cooled on that school. Luckily, that isn't the case with Jennings.

MD OL Donovan Smith will be visiting PSU this Friday (7/30). This will be his third visit to Happy Valley.

OH LB Andre Sturdivant told BWI how his sit-down with Joe Paterno ($) went.

MD LB Connor Crowell named his top three schools ($), which included Penn State.

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2 comments:

  1. The staff should give Dominique Noble 50 cents and a kick in the ass.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 50 Cents is plenty Kronk... He'll end up kicking himself later.

    NittanyLionFootballFreak

    ReplyDelete

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