Penn State Football Recruiting – 7/14/11

Getting back into the groove, these will now be a weekly article (once again).

-The Jarron Jones saga continues on.  No one seems to know what Jones is going to do, as it seems he changes his mind every time he’s asked.  One day, he isn’t visiting ND, but is going to visit PSU/ND.  Next day, he isn’t visiting anywhere.  Then he is likely to visit ND and PSU.  It’s just one big mind numbing recruitment.  He wants to make a decision before his season, but I’m guessing he won’t have a set decision until October, just a guess on my part though.

–Eugene Lewis, William Mahone, and Armani Reeves all attended “The Opening”.  A huge recruiting combine filled with all type of events plus 7-on-7 games.  Although none shined to the level of a 5-Star, they all seemed to have a good combine.  Not to mention, they were able to spend time together.  Maybe future teammates?

As for their recruitments, they all have talked about having a decision before the season.  Mahone is down to PSU, Pitt, and ND with PSU and Pitt being the main two there.  Pitt recruitniks have said that Pitt is in great shape with Mahone, and he may just commit to Pitt because two of his teammates are probably also going to Pitt.  Meanwhile, PSU recruitniks feel the same way about Mahone in regards to PSU.  It seems like a toss up right now, but it will be sorted out shortly.  Expect a decision by the end of July.

Lewis has also said his plan is to have a decision by the end of the summer.  He’s down to the final five of Penn State, Va Tech, Oregon, Pitt, and Maryland.  PSU is the firm leader here, with Va Tech probably being the only competition.  He’ll visit PSU in early August, which is only a good sign for Penn State.  If Penn State doesn’t land Lewis, it will be a shock to everyone.

Reeves is another PSU/ND recruiting battle, which hasn’t been so kind to PSU as of late.  Reeves has said that Penn State is the leader here, and with best friend Camren Williams in his ear, things are looking good for PSU.  He has a goal of making a decision before the season, but he’s the least likely of the two others listed above.

–Tommy Schutt was a name that was prominent early on, but he’s been really quiet during the recruit process.  It was reported that ND, OSU, and PSU were his Top 3, but now he has a Top 4 of ND, PSU, Wisky, and Florida.  He’ll be visiting ND this weekend, and plans on visiting PSU, UF, and Wisky.  He’ll be announcing on a television program that Tom Lemming has some part of, which isn’t all that good of news considering Tom Lemming is a big time ND Homer.  It doesn’t mean he is definitely headed ND way, but it certainly doesn’t give you warm and fuzzies.  Schutt did grow up a PSU fan so maybe when/if he visits he loves it here?  It will be his first visit, by the way.

-Another name that wasn’t talked about for a long time, has popped back up.  JP Holtz (6’4 235 TE/DE) is now be re-recruited (I made that word up) by Penn State.  After Penn State received commitments from Jesse James and Brent Wilkerson, Penn State stopped contact with Holtz.  Well, now Holtz will be coming for a visit.  He does have offers from all the schools around here…BC, UConn, Pitt, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers, etc.  If Penn State seriously goes after Holtz, he’ll more than likely end up here.

Many think this corresponds to Kent Taylor, which it just may.  But Holtz is being recruited as a “Big Athlete”.  What does that mean?  I’m guessing DE/TE, maybe even FB.  At the same time, Wilkerson can move over to DE (what he was being recruited for by every other school) and James may end up at OL.  So PSU has a variety of TE prospects that can play elsewhere.  Not to mention, Taylor probably fits better in the H-Back (Brackett) type role.  Nothing is cleared up yet, but it should be soon.

–Skyler Mornhinweg has visited Bama, BC, Tennessee, Rutgers, and Penn State (Pretty sure PSU was the last of those).  He should have a decision in the next week or two, which seemingly bodes well for Penn State.  Would be a good get considering he is the only true QB we are after.  My guess is he does end up at Penn State.

–Arthur Flores committed to San Diego State.  Although that doesn’t close the door, I don’t expect PSU to offer him.

-I forgot Devin Fuller in my update last week.  Apologies about that.  Big time WR/QB from NJ, with nasty film.  Wants to play QB, but would be a nasty WR.  At the same time, he would be like a Denard Robinson type QB.  Anyway, he had a Top 13 and PSU was in it.  He’ll eventually break it down to a Top 5, and Penn State will almost surely be in it.  PSU is telling him they will play him like they did Michael Robinson…WR first to get him onto the field, but he’ll end up being a QB.  Nebraska and Rutgers are the other schools to watch here.

-Another guy I forgot to add was Mike Tyson (6’2 180 DB from VA). He was a camp offer, but has offers from Virginia and Va Tech.  He says PSU and UVa are out in front him.  Pretty important considering the only other definite DB we are after is Cox.  He won’t have a decision for quite some time.

-Same old for Malik Golden. Penn State, Iowa, Boston College, and UConn with Georgia Tech wanting him to camp.  Seems to be PSU/Iowa battle, as he almost committed to Iowa before the PSU camp.  He’ll visit PSU in the upcoming weeks.

–Drew Harris had to cancel his visit this weekend, which usually doesn’t bode well.  He’ll re-schedule for August.  On the other hand, Akeel Lynch will visit PSU and BC one more time each.  After that, he’ll have his decision.

–Cyrus Jones (5’11 190 RB/WR from MD) has PSU in his Top 11.  He goes to school with current PSU commit, Brian Gaia.  Don’t expect too much from Jones…he loves Alabama.

1000 words…now follow me on Twitter: @itspatrickh.  The only people who don’t follow me are the ones who like to kick kittens.

Thanks for reading.