Penn State In Maryland: A Retrospective Look

With the ridiculous recruiting of LJSR in a state that is in the process of changing its name, I got to thinking: why the sudden surge? Of the eleven commitments Penn State currently has, six are from LJSR's territory.

Well where were these guys last year?

Of Maryland's Top 20 players in 2008, PSU was considered* by recruit #4, #6 and #11...but received commitments from none of them.

Same goes for 2007, consideration was only given by #2, #5, #6 and #15 (this is really strange considering the #10 prospect went to Akron). Again, none of them are currently in State College.

So the trend probably continues into 2006, right? Um, not so much:

(source: Rivals.com)

That's seven of the top nine. So this type of dominance isn't totally unprecedented, but still a bit strange considering how inconsistent PSU has been in Maryland.

So why the sudden influx of players? Could this just be the result of a decent shot a freshman playing time? Or have the recruiters taken some notes over the past two years of relatively weak classes and decided to change the game plan a little bit?

*To be honest I don't know if the inclusion of PSU on the list means they were offered or are considering. Does Rivals eliminate a school from the list of the player decides to take that offer out of consideration? I don't know.

Commit To Penn State And Crabcakes And Football!!! That's What Maryland Does!!! [Here is #11]

And the story continues, with commitment number 11, the sixth from The [insert Maryland motto here, crabcakes? I don't know...] State. He is WR Brandon Felder, stands 6'4" and runs a 4.43 forty.

"I got to talk to all three of the coaches. Coach Paterno was a real cool and funny dude. He told me he was going to be around forever. I didn't have to worry about him leaving. He also mentioned he's excited to have me on his team as well."

All The Sudden Not So Worried About The Future Defense

Penn State lands commit #10, DE Sean Stanley from Maryland. Rated a four star prospect, he chooses Penn State over such teams as Pitt, Michigan, Georgia and Rutgers. Ha, Rutgers. That's funny.

When People Don't Think Before They Speak, Recruiting Gets Weird

Kansas' Coach Mangino on recruiting:

"My point is there's disinformation," Mangino said. "There's misinformation, because the kids even play games with these guys now and stroke them about they're going to take a visit here when the school is not recruiting them, and saying that they're considering Kansas and we talked to the guy the night before and we can't get to first base with him. [emphasis mine]

Nice choice of words, Mark, because you stalking 17 year old kids isn't already kinda weird.

Old School vs. New School

The Big Ten wants to spearhead a new dead period in the summer:

"We've gone to a policy where three coaches have to be in the office at all times," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said Wednesday. "God forbid you're not there when you've got a pretty good prospect and his parents standing outside the door. A dead period means no body's going to drift into your office.

For a guy who is getting fired at the end of the year, I'm not sure why Tiller still cares. But good for him.

If approved, the proposal would be taken to the NCAA. Gaining the support from head coaches of other conferences will be vital and could be difficult, given the opposition from some to new rules prohibiting off-campus recruiting visits during the spring evaluation period.

"I don't know if everybody will buy it or not," Tiller said. "If not, I suppose we could do something independently as a conference, but I think we're going to take the lead on this nationally."

Really bad idea: tell Big Ten coaches they can't recruit while the other 109 schools in the nation can.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez supports the plan and noted the benefit of having dead periods, like the one during the annual American Football Coaches Association convention.

"That would be healthy."

Going out on a limb here:

Coaches For The Proposed Dead Period
Tiller - Even though he's not coaching anymore.
Alvarez - Who isn't coaching, but still gets to speak.
Paterno - Probably thinks there already is a dead period in the summer.

Coaches Against The Proposed Dead Period
Dickrod - How is he suppose to steal Tiller's recruits if he can't talk to them?
Tressel - The biggest PA high school basketball fan you've ever met, since 2008.
Zook - Although he's already found a loophole.

Captains And Quarterbacks

Very close to what you probably expected (I had three of these, anyway):

Defensive end Josh Gaines (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) and safety Anthony Scirrotto (West Deptford, N.J.) were named the defensive captains. Center A.Q. Shipley (Coraopolis) and wide receiver Derrick Williams (Greenbelt, Md.) were named the offensive captains.

In addition, linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) will serve as an honorary captain in 2008. Lee suffered a serious knee injury earlier this month that will likely keep him off the field this season, but he is planning to return for the 2009 season as a fifth-year senior.

The only real surprise here, I think, is Scirrotto, although he's not a surprise if you think about the circumstances. Lee was going to be the guy, and so it's rather clear not one person is going to be able to fill those shoes.

Moving on, there was some good new/bad news out of Michigan yesterday. Texas quarterback Shevodrick Beaver has committed to the Wolverines. He is a 3/4 star player depending on who you ask.

Why good news? Well because we don't appear to be actively recruiting anymore, this ups our chances of being some kind of default choice for our last chance at a decent quarterback: Tate Forcier.

Speaking of quarterbacks that ended up here on accident, RUTS clears up the misconception that we've actually landed a QB target since Zack Mills...

Blue and White Round Table?

After reading several of my posts involving extreme bias and unnecessary cursing, the highly regarded BWRT has invited me to add my two cents.

Yes, it's very class

If you are reading this blog you've probably been to most of these places already, but as a sign of gratitude and in what appears to be the custom, make sure to check out the following for their takes:

Black Shoe Diaries
Run Up The Score
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
The Nittany Notebook
Tangled Up In White and Blue


How well did Penn State address their needs with this recruiting class?

Well, with so few scholarships to give it changes the game a little bit. Our needs were obviously wide receiver and defensive back. We bombed here except for Lynn and Price. We did pick up some "meat and potatoes", as all the experts like to say. The four linebackers we brought in are, of course, solid. (I'm very much looking forward to the first time I hear "that's Yancich and Zordich on the sack!") In addition, you can never haven enough linemen and the three we picked up appear to be nice additions. To answer the question, not that great. But I'm not as pessimistic as some appear to be. Pryor is still on the table and we still have one more year at these need positions before it's panic time.

Who was the big fish that got away? The kid you really really wish we had landed?

Well everyone is going to be talking about Shaw here, and he probably qualifies. There aren't very many fish as big as Pryor, so we'll wait and see on that one. My answer is Deion Walker.

You’re NCAA President Miles Brand. Take a break from counting your BCS cash for a minute. What would you do to improve the recruiting process?

This is a rip off of an idea I read a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a link if and when I remember where the hell it came from [edit: from IBFC, thanks to RUTS for helping me out], but for now here is the deal: Every recruit registers with the NCAA. Instead of a verbal commitment, the recruit will have the option to 'declare', or notify the NCAA in a non-binding way that they intend to sign with school XSU. Once the NCAA gets this notification, they publish said intention on some kind of database that all schools have access to. Once declared, no one but XSU will be allowed to contact said recruit. The recruit would also not be allowed to take any visits to other programs. If the recruit has second thoughts about his decision, he can simply remove his declaration from the data base, at which time he is fair game for all programs again.

The two benefits: (1) if a kid wants to stop being harassed via text message by 45 year old men, he can simply declare, (2) the schools get some kind of idea how committed a player really is.

Now you’re Joe Paterno. So I guess prepare to dodge the question. What would you change about Penn State’s recruiting strategy?

This is really simple: If I'm Joe Paterno I need to get the hell out of the house every once in a while. I understand he was sick close to signing day, which warrants staying home that week, but what about before that? Pryor, the number one recruit in the nation, is the only player to get an in-house visit from Paterno, and look what happened! Had Joe visited all of our targets, who knows what this class could have looked like.

Lightning Round!

Where will Terrelle Pryor go to school? Or should he just live off the hype for the next few years and directly enter the NFL draft in 2010?

What hype?

Ok, seriously: I really have no idea, I tried following this thing during December and January and ended up utterly confused, so I gave up.

I'm going to say PSU simply because I'm a huge homer, but if you put a gun to my head I'd insist its 50/50 between us and OSU.

Which member of this class stands the best chance to make an immediate impact?

I like Lynn here. Our secondary is suspect at best, and besides that DB is not a position that requires a lot of bulking up. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how a kid recruited by USC, Ohio State and Florida ends up a three star on Rivals. I'm obviously guessing here but I would bet he's a lot better than that.

It's Like Waiting For Christmas, Only You Know There Probably Are No Presents

Two child stalkers make small talk at one of Pryor's basetball games

At 12:05 pm everyone will be forced to chill the fuck out. I'm pretty excited about a Pryorless blogosphere, I really am. As least until he, you know, plays football or whatever it is these recruits do.

One final question I want to ask and then I'm done until noon: Why is Penn State still on the list? Not one single 'insider' has predicted, or even suggests possible, a Pryor commit to Penn State. Mike Farrell, of Rivals, went as far as to say "He'd win an Academy Award if he chose Penn State on signing day."

I'm not suggesting anything here because, to be honest, I'm very confused.

Update: H/T to RUTS, but now it looks like Christmas is getting pushed back at least another week. Pryor has been to PSU but never did take his official visit. He apparently wants to do this, and possibly head to Oregon as well. Either way this is all very, very good news.

Let's Keep Updating: Shaw bailed on Penn State and went to Michigan, that hurts. Regarding Pryor, Oregon is out.

Post-Gazette: Please Shut the Hell Up Already

I'm rather proud of myself, honestly. I called this post my last on the SuperRecruitChild Terrelle Pryor and I held out all the way until Super Tuesday. Not bad, I think.

Besides, this isn't a real Pryor post. Instead of giving you all some late breaking news about what Terrelle's mom packed him for lunch today, I'd like to do something a little more fun. Let's talk about what drives a supposedly 'real' newspaper (one that even Stephen A. Smith would read) to report and act like a bunch of idiots.

These two things happened within a week of each other:

"I'd say it's about 50-50 that I'll push things back," Pryor said.

Earlier this week, it seemed the race was down to Ohio State and Michigan because Pryor wasn't going to visit Oregon. If Pryor visits Oregon, the Ducks will still have a chance at landing him.

Pryor also said yesterday Penn State is not out of the running.

Who said Penn State was out of the running? How does Pryor not going to Oregon eliminate Penn State also? Why not just say, "the race was down to Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State..." instead of leaving out PSU and throwing in that random "they are in but don't have a chance" comment? Pryor has said a lot of nonsense over the past 6 months, even telling Rivals that Duke was on the list, but I don't remember him ever saying "Penn State is out." Great journalism, guys.

Anyway, then a week later:

Pryor, star quarterback at Jeannette High School, said today he is "80 to 90 percent sure" he will announce his choice at a news conference Wednesday.

But Pryor said he will not visit Oregon and the Ducks are out of the picture.

"I have to call them today and tell them," Pryor said.

Pryor said he will decide among Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, although Ohio State and Michigan have been the leaders all along.

Listen Post-Gazette: I know you don't like PSU. Every time there is news in your paper about football, it's always of the negative variety. Maybe Pitt has something to do with it, maybe not, but please stop this bullshit where you quote a kid who changes his mind about thing every 24 hours and then throw in a line like "Although Ohio State and Michigan have been the leaders all along." You make it read like he said this, yet for some reason you don't actually give us a quote, which makes me think you made it up. Why do this? It's not what other people have said*. Are you a recruiting service*? If it is what he said, why not just quote him? Because it's bullshit? Right, ok I get it now.

I'm no journalist (as you can see), but I'm pretty sure one of the things they teach writers is that it's best not to throw made up shit into a 'news' story.

The point of this isn't to argue that PSU is a frontrunner, it's to point out that, if anyone has a clue, it's not some writer at the Post-Gazette. If it is the Post-Gazette, it would be because they have a quote or credible source and would report it by saying something like "sources have reported"...the thing is the Post-Gazette doesn't do any of these things. They just say things like they are fact without telling you why they are saying them. That is what makes them garbage.


*Not that I believe these idiots either.

ESPN Recruiting Update: Part II.5

Welcome to Part II

I promised this post in Part I. But was then distracted by Part Old Man, so here is Part II. I think I have to offically refer to this as Part III, although techniqually its "Part 2.5", the problem is I don't know the Romen Numeral for one half, so "III" will have to suffice. Regarding this.

Purdue: "Purdue has been consistent but has failed to rise as a serious threat for the Big Ten title and crack the inner circle of dominant teams that Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State have formed...Under Tiller the Boilermakers have been unable to land an ESPN 150 prospect and likely will not by signing day this year either."

Big 11th Says...I kind of regret doing this thing now. You forget how many mediocre teams there are in the Big Ten until you start going through them. No gamebreaks are in this class, sorry. Also, Penn State is still part of the "Circle of Dominate Teams". Cool, I think.

Michigan State: "This Michigan State class is heavy with in-state prospects as 12 commitments hail from Michigan. The Spartans have shown an effort to recruit their own turf hard...another interesting aspect of this class is no junior college additions...His current class does not compare to in-state rivals Michigan or with Big Ten power Ohio State but does have some positives."

Big 11th Says...So MSU is landing some instate recruits, something usually only Michigan does. Maybe this has something to do with Michigan taking over Pennsylvania. Maybe, I don't know.

Northwestern: "Northwestern, long regarded as the most 'academic' of the Big Ten institutions, has decided not to recruit this season...Long road trips in prior years, according to most recruiting and financial experts, have not been worth the gas money."

Big 11th Says... Ok, I made that up, sorry. What he really said was "Much like their season, the Wildcats will very likely finish near the bottom in the conference recruiting rankings." So, quickly, think about everything thats happened to our basketball team over the last five games. Northwestern recruiting is kind of like that.

Indiana: "The Hoosiers struggled some to defend the pass in 2007 and have not done much to address that with the 2008 class..."

Big 11th Says...See Purdue, and photo under post header.

Minnesota: "Lauded for his recruiting abilities, [Tim Brewster] has worked hard to not disappoint, planting roots in Minnesota and going nationwide looking for talent. Minnesota has landed at least one verbal from prep prospects in 11 states outside of Minnesota, spanning from California to Florida....On the prep front, [they land] a pair of defensive tackle pledges ready to help a run defense that ranked 114th."

Big 11th Says... Thank god I got through this thing. Minnesota is a hell of a school to end on since, you know, they lost to North Dakota State, which can't be good for recruiting. Brewster tricked a couple people to play football for him. I wish them all luck.


In conclusion, doing a wrap up of all the Big Ten teams is just not worth it.

ESPN's Recruiting Update, Old People

Change of plan. Penn State will be given it's own post because, well, this is a Penn State blog. Part II, seriously, will be later today.

Penn State"Unfortunately, the stagnant class could stem from 81-year-old Joe Paterno still hanging in there and not offering the spark often needed to relate to the younger generation of prospects. However, tradition still sells and no one coach in college football represents more tradition than Joe Pa himself."

Big Eleventh says... This is really all a ploy to talk about JoePa's age and, separately, his marketability.

The MSM has reminded us, almost weekly during the season, that Joe is old. They do it again here. Reporters love to comment on how Joe can't "relate to the younger players these days" because it seems to make sense. Problem is, it just isn't true. This years class lacks flash, but just in the last 5 years, off the top of my head, Joe has been able to relate to Connor, Scott, Morelli, Williams and King. All very highly ranked and talked to by dozens of other younger coaches. All chose Penn State. It's not Joe's age that is the problem, it is his style. The problem with saying he's too old is that he has been doing things the same way for 30 years. Almost nothing has changed since his first winning season. His name alone can be enough to win over a recruit, but his style is no longer mainstream and some people just aren't interested. The prospect of waiting 2 or 3 years is becoming more and more of a problem when there are coaches who are willing to plug guys in right away.

As for the marketability comment, I think this guy is on line but his comment is a little misleading. Joe and Graham get along great. Joe likes to coach, and Graham lets him do this. Graham like to make money, and Joe makes this happen. It's never been about football for it's own sake inside Old Main. Each game is really just another fundraising event and if people keep donating regardless of the scoreboard then the scoreboard doesn't matter.

Oh, recruiting, right. We are loaded at linebacker, have a couple of decent RB's out of Ohio, and probably aren't getting Pryor. Ohio State has been to two MNC games in a row and Michigan just landed a very high profile coach...all while we finished our second very average finish in a row. These are our recruiting problems, not old age.

Not that any of you care, but there will be a Part II, I promise.

Recruiting Is Creepy: 2009

I've tried to explain that I don't like to follow recruiting. Besides the fact that most of these lists simply aren't right, there is also something very strange about learning the names of high school seniors all around the country.

It wasn't until EDSBS sucked me in with their Curiosity Index that I ended up at Rivals. They have some how ranked the Top 100 players of 2009. I didn't get into names here because, like the title of the post explains, that would be creepy. But I am obsessed with stats and so here are a few:

-USC has landed the #1 recruit in the nation who, as is often the case, is a quarterback from California.

-Of the 100 "Top" recruits, only 10 have made commitments. Of the 120 D1a programs, only 5 have received commitments. You probably guessed that Penn State is not one of these programs and you are right. By School: USC 5, Ohio State 2, Michigan 1, UCLA 1, Alabama 1.

-Of the 100 "Top" recruits, 4 are from PA. All appear to be considering PSU. None appear to be driving Corvettes.

So lets review. USC is owning shit, as usual. Ohio State and Michigan are getting big name recruits, as usual. My post lacks a proper conclusion, as usual. You didn't learn anything from this post, but thanks for reading it.

My Last Terrelle Pryor Post - Where Is He Headed?

For a while I had decided that I was simply done with this thing. I don't really care where the hell he ends up. It would be great to have him, and he appears to be the real deal, but we have quarterbacks. I'll have do a little research before I can tell you for sure, but my gut feeling is that our program will survive life without Pryor.

So here it is, the final round-out...Where is Terrelle Pryor going? Where is Terrelle Pryor headed? Terrelle Pryor to Michigan? Terrelle Pryor to Ohio State? These google searches and more, after this short message.



For most of the past two months the Ohio State fan base has tried to convince everyone that he will be a Buckeye. This might be true, but when I posted this, I heard from two different places that Ohio State had given up recruiting him. That Michigan had pretty much signed the kid.

Despite that, three of the four Rivals.com 'experts', to this day, pick OSU as the final destination of their #1 ranked recruit.

However, the Detroit Free press has passed along a story, via ESPN, that Pryor has totally eliminated all schools on his list except for Oregon and Michigan (although some at ESPN still think OSU is a distant third rather than non-existent).

This is all just a couple days after Pryor announced that LSU was on the list.

Penn State remains on the list, technically, however Pryor did cancel his final visit to the school.

I'll send all this to NASA and have them figure out exactly what it means, results will be posted upon arrival.

Keep in mind that this is the same kid who called Rivals at 3am to report that he had added Duke to his list. Duke has never been on his list. This kid is making a mockery of the whole process and I love it. Good for him. I hope he goes to Temple and admits at signing day that was the plan all along.