[There's also a FanShot on this topic.]
After a week or two of whispers and rumor, FOS is reporting that Penn State has granted Levi Norwood his release from scholarship before he even showed up on campus:
The Norwood era at Penn State is over, after all.Brian Norwood served as a Nittany Lion secondary coach from 2001-07 before leaving to take the defensive coordinator job at Baylor. His son, Jordan Norwood, was a standout receiver at PSU from 2005-08.
Another son, Levi, was supposed to join the Lion football team this summer as a member of State's Class of 2010. But according to a source close to the family, Levi asked for and was given a release from his letter of intent with the Nittany Lions.
No specific reason was given for his change of heart.
Norwood's departure open up another scholarship for Penn State's Class of 2011.
Norwood's inclusion in Penn State's most recent recruiting class raised a lot of concerns among Penn State fans, not because Levi was a bit of an unknown (he didn't play football when he first moved to Waco with his father), but because it appeared that Penn State nudged away five-star WR recruit Kenny Stills in the process. Stills was a California kid who showed initial interest in PSU but eventually landed at Oklahoma, where he tore up this year's spring game:
"Kenny is very comfortable, very natural," coach Bob Stoops said. "With body control, going after the ball, running routes — he sure has made some excellent progress in a short time."He has a chance to be a really good player."
Stills showed that chance might come as soon as next season.
He led all receivers with six catches for 84 yards, which featured a pair of electric catches downfield that turned out to be the two best plays of the day.
Not sure how much the coaching staff could have done with this situation, however. Norwood was a bit of an unknown, although the PSU coaches supposedly loved his performance at one of their camps in Happy Valley. They chose to cut bait with the five-star kid who was a 30% shot to sign with PSU, and instead went with the legacy kid from Texas who was practically a sure thing -- only to get burned late in the game. This dings the wide receiver depth a bit for next season, but opens up a new scholarship for PSU's tiny (and painfully vacant) current recruiting class.