Penn State has secured the verbal of its second linebacker for the Class of 2012 as Lions 247 is reporting Archbald outside backer Nyeem Wartman has given his commitment to the Nittany Lions. Wartman has a nice, 6'3", 220-pound frame and is a three-star prospect according to both Scout and Rivals.
Lots of big time programs have expressed interest in his services. According to Rivals, he had offers from Akron, Boston College, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, NC State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Temple. He joins Camren Williams in this linebacker class.
His Scout profile evaluates his game this way.
Wartman plays a lot of roles for the Valley View defense. You’ll see him inside or outside, sometimes he’ll be covering the slot receiver. More times than not he is in the middle and we see him as more of an outside linebacker. He doesn’t have the quickest first step and when he has to sit back and read it really hinders his skills as an athlete. Wartman needs to be out in space where he can use his athleticism to his advantage.
The Altoona Mirror reported last week that Wartman was expected to be at Lift for Life this past weekend, so the news doesn't really come as much of a surprise. Regardless, it's certainly nice for the Lions to pull in another coveted linebacker for this class.
Here are some highlights via Yahoo! News, UK and Ireland (randomly).
UPDATE: Here are some comments via Fight On State.
“This is not only a decision I made for myself,” Wartman told The Times. “I’m happy that I can do this for my family and for my mom. I really liked the fact that players at Penn State, no matter what grade they were in, went out of their way to get to know me and talk with me. They made it feel like a family.”