Friday Recruitin' - Penn State Recruiting Update 4/1

Future Nittany Lion? Maybe.
PHOTO: Scout.com

Well the unofficial Junior Day has come and gone, and Penn State picked up one...two...three new commits to join Anthony Stanko in the class of 2012. By our count, Penn State still has 57 offers outstanding, so this class is far from over. They still haven't picked up the coveted defensive backs that should be the target of this class, but that isn't for lack of offering; there are still eight highly rated defensive backs on the board.

This week's cast of visitors isn't nearly as numerous as last week, primarily due to the fact that the annual Coaches Clinic is taking place in Happy Valley over the weekend (which includes the first of three planned scrimmages for the current players). However, stay tuned to Linebacker-U for any news out of State College over the next week. There's no telling when the next commit could happen.

Recruiting News - Offers, Visits, and Other Information

• Starting with the high importance recruits, PSU is in "even better shape" with all-world defensive end Noah Spence from Harrisburg. Penn State's strategy for recruiting true defensive ends, at this point in the game, is quite simple - "Spence Or Bust"
• Late Spence addition: Scout.com's Director of Scouting Scott Kennedy hints that he feels that Spence will be the #1 defensive end in the country when the next set of rankings come out. Spence will be a recruiting class game changer, wherever he ends up.
• Another highly ranked PA prospect, Rushel Shell, is taking a break from football for the baseball season. Though Penn State fans want to hope otherwise, "it doesn't seem like Shell has any desire to play for the Nittany Lions."
• PA OL Chris Muller has been selected for play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, the yearly all-star game broadcast by NBC. You'll remember this as "that game where Donovan Smith awkwardly picked Penn State in front of some soldiers." The game takes place in January; I expect Muller to have been a Nittany Lion commit for at least 7 months by then.
• In other Muller news, Chris posted the highest SPARQ score ever for an offensive lineman at a Nike combine even in Philadelphia in February. Yes, you read that correctly. Highest...score...ever.
• Visits this week: NJ ATH Devin Fuller was on campus on Wednesday, and the trip certainly made an impression on him ($). Fuller could play anywhere from QB to WR to DB.
• New offers out since the last update include: SC OL Patrick DeStefano, who has offers from most major schools in the south, and NY DT Mikal Myers, whose offer came as surprise to almost everyone involved ($).
• Recent articles on Penn State's newest members - Camren Williams, Brent Wilkerson, and Jesse James. Two interesting additional tidbits about Jesse James that I mentioned on Twitter - he has a brother named Rick (CHARLIE MURPHY!) and recently logged a vertical leap of 41.5" (and he already stands 6'7").
• Stop me when you've heard this one: Penn State is recruiting an unbelievably fast, indoor-track-champion-turned-Maryland football player with dreadlocks. No, it's not Devon Smith again, it's Ronald Darby from Potomac, MD. Darby projects anywhere on the field (seriously, if he wanted to play DT, I'd let him), with a likely future at RB.
• Even though the man is an absolute freak on the playing field, I'm not sure I want to see PSU recruits in an article titled "The hunt is on for the next Clowney." Luckily, the article was referring to Clowney's talent, and not Signing Day (and beyond) theatrics. Specifically mentioned, though, are VA DL Eli Harold, PA DE Noah Spence, MD DL Mike Moore, and Brent Wilkerson.
• Another monster DT is making waves in Michigan, where both major in-state programs have offered Indiana's Sheldon Day. Penn State has also extended a verbal offer.

Everything Else - Fun Links, Non-2012 Recruits, and Anything Else of Note

• 2011 commit Donovan Smith is pretty awesome, but you already knew that.
• 2011 commit Anthony Zettel has one more high school football game in him, and hopefully he isn't rusty. Also mentioned in the article, Zettel suffers from a condition known as cuboid-navicular coalition, which affects Zettel's feet primarily.
• Eleven Warriors has your Ohio State preview. The TatGate Five Plus One will be back by the time the Nittany Lions head to Columbus.
• The good Doctor has a nice rundown of pay-to-play, which is good, cause trying to follow just a few of these storylines is enough to cause migraines.
• In basketball recruiting news, Penn State is recruiting Anthony Hubbard, a 6'5" forward that is also a 25 year-old ex-felon JUCO transfer, and Sheldon Jeter, a 6'7" guard/forward from Beaver Falls, PA that is related to Lance Jeter, a current member of the Nebraska basketball team.

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