Penn State Recruiting 1/27/11

Final article for the 2011 recruits.  Let’s get to it.

Blake Countess [5’10 175 CB from MD] – Unfortunately, Countess has “re-committed” to Michigan.  Things sounded great for Penn State, as after LJ SR visited him last week, Blake was saying things were 50/50.  Also, Countess wanted to meet Michigan’s DB Coach, but Michigan doesn’t have a DB coach.  Penn State was scheduled to send a whole host of coaches Thursday Night (LJ SR, Bradley, and Buggs) to the Countess’ house hold.

Things going right?  Well, it seemed that way.  Michigan’s DC (Mattison) met with Countess Tuesday Night, and Countess decided to stay with Michigan.  No more Penn State visit.  A shame, but at least PSU gave it a shot.  Although, I have no idea why Penn State didn’t start recruiting him earlier.  Very weird.

Ryan Nowicki [6’5 275 OT from AZ] – Nothing to worry about here.  It was reported earlier this week that Nowicki was going to visit Michigan this weekend.  Those were false.  But he has met with Michigan and USC in the past few days.  USC has told him they’ll be on him until Signing Day, but that shouldn’t matter.  This is the final weekend for official visits and after Sunday, no more in-home visits either.  Nowicki already used his official visit to USC, and while he has never visited Michigan, it doesn’t look like he will visit them.  He didn’t seem all that excited with Michigan from the start anyway.  The team PSU should worry about, is USC.  But, the chances of Nowicki switching are very slim.  USC basically has to change his mind over a phone call…good luck with that, Kiffin.  Not to mention, Coach Kenney did visit Nowicki last night to make sure everything was fine.

This is my theory: Nowicki, in his heart, does want to go to PSU, but he is just making sure (I think his parents also wanted him to make sure) that Penn State was the school for him.  Michigan seemed to get there way into it because of Nowicki’s coach, who I believe is a big proponent of Michigan.

Bottom line…Nowicki will end up at PSU IMO.

Adrian Amos [6’1 200 DB from MD] – Out with one, in with another.  Penn State has offered Amos, another DB (Although Amos is a Safety) from MD after Countess decided to stay with Michigan.  Amos was a former UConn commit, but really shined at the Crab Bowl (Maryland’s/DC all-star game).  Shortly after the Crab Bowl, Edsal got fired, and Amos picked up a few more offers…West Virginia and Vanderbilt (Who has James Franklin now, a great MD recruiter).  Amos has visited West Virginia, is still considering UConn, and is scheduled to visit Vandy this weekend.  But, it sounds like Amos may be using this final weekend to visit schools, to visit Penn State.  Amos is mum about it currently, but that should change within the next 24 hours.  My guess?  Amos does visit Penn State, and then commits to Penn State later this week (Feb 2nd is LOI Day).

Don’t think that Amos is a reach, either.  Definitely a solid player.  Like I said, he got really good reviews at the Crab Bowl.  He’s big for a safety, but can run stride for stride with most WRs, very good cover skills, has a good pair of hands, and has great field awareness.  Stay tuned.

Andre Sturdivant [6’3 255 DL from OH] – Let me just say this now: I have NO idea what is going on.  None.  Sturdivant isn’t visiting Ohio State this weekend, like I tweeted earlier this week (twitter.com/itspatrickh).  But he stated yesterday that Ohio State would be visiting him in school.  Then, Andre said Michigan State was out of it, but now they are visiting his school too.  With Penn State, once again, it’s a mystery.  He visited Penn State, but many recruitniks are saying Penn State isn’t going after him.  While Sturdivant said that Penn State will also be visiting him at school later this week.  Then, there’s Toledo.  Sturdivant said he knows a lot of the Toledo players, and can definitely see himself playing there.

Like I said, who knows?  It seems to be Penn State or Toledo.  Honestly, I have no idea.  I want to say the recruiting services are full of it (Very possible), but at the same time, Sturdivant hasn’t been the most reliable recruit (He scheduled PSU visits so many times, but never visited).  Expect a decision by Monday.  As for where he goes?  I don’t think Sturdivant even knows.

Donte Phillips [6’2 260] – Sounds like no offer for Phillips.  He was telling other recruiting services that he was meeting with Joe Pa the next day, and was expected to get the offer.  No offer came, and it seems like no offer is coming.  Not sure what to make of it, but you have to feel bad for Phillips.

Final article for the 2011 recruiting class.  Signing Day is February 2nd, but no PSU recruits will be holding announcements that day so it’s a pretty insignificant day this year.  Still, it’s the day that all verbal commitments become official, as the guys will sign their letter of intent.  That day, I’ll submit all my write ups on the Penn State commits.  That way, I’ll have it all in one spot.

Things will definitely quiet down after next Wednesday, and most of the news won’t be as significant as it has been the last few months.  2012 guys will start getting more offers, but they are just starting the process so everything is wide open for them, and there really isn’t much to talk about.  I’ll try to get out an article every week, but during the next few months, it may be once every two weeks.