If the name Arcidiacono sounds familiar, well..it should. Mark Arcidiacono is a three year member of the Penn State football program, redshirting in 2009 and working his way up the depth chart in 2010 and 2011. Brandon Arcidiacono is an incoming freshman in the Rutgers Class of 2012, who is holding to his commitment for now. (Brandon did not have an offer from Penn State.)

A year later, Nick Arcidiacono (6-4, 233 pounds) is trying to make a name for himself as an offensive lineman/tight end/defensive end out of Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, PA. Nick is currently waiting on his first offer, but is hearing from schools like Penn State, Rutgers, Boston College, Maryland, Miami, Nebraska, and Michigan State.

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Brandon Austin, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Starz 'n Sheetz

ESPN: 4*, 93 grade
Scout: 4*, #71 overall
Rivals: 3*
247: NR

Offer sheet: Syracuse, Villanova, Temple, Pittsburgh, Miami, Tennessee, Rutgers, Georgetown, Wake Forest

Cinema

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The second player of the 2012 recruiting class was DE/TE Brent Wilkerson, from DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland. The 6'4", 245-pound Wilkerson decided on Penn State last March, as you can see from this enthusiastically written profile here at BSD.

When The Thing went down, Larry Johnson told Wilkerson to take his time and look around at other schools before deciding what to do for the next four or five years. Wilkerson did just that, and his final decision came down to Penn State and Nebraska. In the end, the good guys won. Wilkerson also received some sage advice from his father:

The decision to stay with Penn State did not surprise Raymond Wilkerson, though he left the choice to his son.

"When Brent was young, he always had Penn State as his dream school," Raymond Wilkerson said. "It would be easy for a kid to opt out after everything that went on at Penn State. I always tell Brent, ‘You are going to school to play football, to do something you love. But at some point the air is going to go out of the ball. What are you going to do when the air goes out of the ball? Do you like the school, the education, the social atmosphere?’

"He looked at a lot of positive things that kept him there."

And like many others in this recruiting class, Wilkerson has the redemption and rehabilitation of Penn State's image on his mind:

“The way I thought about it, I want to be one of the people to bring back what Penn State football is all about. Start the healing process and turn things around.”

Highlight Reels:

Brent Wilkerson Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)

Brent Wilkerson Highlights 2012 DE/TE DeMatha Catholic High School (via wilkersons)

If you took a look at the recruiting breakdowns that were profiled here in the past few days, you'll note that one of the main priorities for the staff in the Class of 2013 is a top-level quarterback. Luckily, there are a number of high quality quarterbacks in the regional recruiting grounds, including two elite passers from Virginia.

Already earning a four-star (93 grade) rating from 247Sports, Christian Hackenberg is currently sitting on eight offers, including Penn State, Alabama, Tennessee (where he is being recruited by head coach Derek Dooley, a friend of Christian's father from their playing days at Virginia), Miami and others. Standing around 6-4, and weighing in around 210 pounds, Hackenberg could be just the man to be the elite signal caller taken in this year's class.

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Time to meet the newest Nittany Lions, now that they have sent in their official letters of intent. Over the next 10 weeks, you'll get to know these 19 newest members of the Penn State football program, and we start with the young man that kicked it all off 11 months ago.

Ohio offensive lineman committed to Penn State in mid-March last year, after a visit to State College with his family. Standing 6-5 and weighing in around 300 pounds, Stanko looks to be the type of lineman that could fit into a number of different positions, though after watching his film, he seems set on the interior of the line.

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The Year of the Class of 2013 is officially upon us, even if Signing Day is roughly 50 weeks away. Now that Coach O'Brien and his staff can give Penn State their full attention, expect recruiting to pick up rather quickly. Sure, the coaches will be meeting with their current players and working on installing new schemes. But with no actual football for a month or so (Blue-White game is April 21, so work 15 practices backwards for your beginning of spring practice date), recruiting will be the topic du jour in Lasch, and rightfully so.

As we outlined yesterday, this class could end up being anywhere from 15 to 25, with a number of different factors affecting the number.

So to keep you in the loop on who those recruits might be, we've got a new approach this year. You've already seen some of the recruit interviews, which will continue throughout the year as we introduce you to the prospects as well as keep up with their recruiting process. Additionally, this ever-changing weekly update will help you keep an eye on who Penn State is keeping an eye on, though we obviously don't know the full extent of the list of staff targets. Finally, we'll have a monthly mailbag, if you have any questions about recruiting. As our coverage grows, hopefully so will your interest in said coverage. If you do have any questions, please send me an email (in my profile) and at the end of each month, we'll highlight some of the questions received.

After the jump, THE RETURN OF THE BIG BOARD...

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With a mere 360-odd days to go until the Class of 2013 commitments sign their letters of intent and a college football nation once again hangs on the penstrokes of a group of 18-year old recruits, it is time to take a way-too-early look at the makeup of that class, from a Nittany Lion perspective.

Predicting who will be in the class a full year ahead of time is a fruitless endeavor, unless you're a fan of one of the roughly thirty teams that already has at least one verbally committed recruit (Penn State does not fall on this list). But predicting how many players in each position group is made somewhat easier by taking a look at who is leaving and what the remaining depth chart looks like.

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Sitting on eight offers and pretty much intent on staying in "Big Ten country", Ohio quarterback Malik Zaire is a name that has been getting a lot of buzz recently, and deservedly so. From the Dayton area, Zaire is currently ranked as the No. 2 dual-style quarterback at 247Sports.

Zaire has an offer from a number of the conference elite, including Nebraska, Wisconsin, and the in-state Buckeyes, who may have the inside track on Zaire. He does not hold an offer from Penn State, but recently spoke with coaches from State College, and could be hearing more from them in the near future. It will have to be soon; Zaire is hoping to gain an invitation to the national Elite 11 QB camp in July, and plans to have a decision made by then.

"[My commitment] will be sometime in June."

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