The Penn State coaching staff picked up its first verbal of the summer on Saturday when Class of 2012 defensive tackle prospect Derek Dowery of Winchester, Va. committed to the Nittany Lions according to Blue White Illustrated.
Dowery, owner of a 6'3" 279-pound frame, is a bit if an unknown at this point, as none of the major recruiting services have him ranked. Of course, that could just mean they haven't gotten around to evaluating him yet, but nevertheless, he's an enigma for now. We do know he had offers from Marshall, Richmond, East Carolina and West Virginia in addition to receiving interest from Virginia Tech.
We also know he's been high on Penn State for a while and has taken several visits.
"I went to the Michigan and Northwestern games during the season," Dowrey said. "It was really awesome, I loved everything outside the stadium before the games, and I loved the atmosphere inside the stadium. It was just like nothing I have ever been to."
When asked if he had a favorite, the answer was crystal clear.
"Penn State by far," Dowrey chuckled. "I love everything about Penn State."
Seems like the coaching staff has known it had this one in the bag for a while. As of this posting, his Rivals page does not show an offer from Penn State, meaning the staff probably decided to pull the trigger after seeing something it liked at camp this weekend.
Dowery had 11 sacks and 145 tackles as a junior at John Handley. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any highlight tapes out there on the Internet for him, so you're going to have to use your imagination.