The boss is booked for the evening, and so when news of Penn State's newest commitment from defensive end Brent Wilkerson of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland came down, your BSD staff was taken a little off guard, so sorry for the lateness of this post. Nevertheless, now that he's in the fold, here's what I, an admitted recruiting agnostic, can tell you about him based on the words of others.
Scout.com ranks Wilkerson a three-star prospect. He measures 6'4" and tips the scales at 245 pounds. He had offers from everyone under the sun including Illinois, Iowa, Boston College, Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Virginia and West Virginia.
Though Wilkerson is listed as a defensive end, according to Sean Fitz of Lions 24/7, he'll likely be steered toward tight end once he arrives in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions have been talking to Wilkerson about playing tight end, and have stood by that despite several schools pursuing him as a defensive end.
"They said that I'd be playing tight end there, but there's a chance that I would be playing defensive end," he said. "They have one tight end on scholarship right now, so they're in need of tight ends and the opportunity for me to play early is very significant. If I work hard and come in I can play early. There's a chance I can still play defensive end but most likely I'll be a tight end."
In another interesting twist to this recruiting story, Wilkerson hails from the same high school as offensive tackle recruit Richard Webb. He's a big dude, all of 6'7" and 325 pounds, and is drawing interest from Florida and Ohio State in addition to Penn State according to his Lions 24/7 profile. I'm no expert, but you might want to keep an eye on him, too.
Below are Wilkerson's highlights so, enjoy. I'm going to get back to watching basketball now.
UPDATE: Three-star defensive end recruit Mike Moore also goes to DeMatha and is in State College this weekend for Junior Day. Keep an eye on him,as well.