Malik Golden, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Stats
Home/HS: Cheshire, CT/The Cheshire Academy
Height: 6'-6'1"
Weight:185
Starz 'n Sheetz
Stars: 3* (247Sports (ATH), Rivals (ATH)), 2* (Scout (WR))
Offer sheet: Boston College, Connecticut, Iowa, Syracuse
Cinema
The Tale
Malik Golden was another camp offer, joining Derek Dowrey and Austin Johnson as members of the Class of '12 to earn their scholarship offers via the summer Penn State Rising Senior Camp. And like Dowrey and Johnson, Golden fills a position of dire need for the Penn State team. He's listed as either ATH or WR on the services, but projects into the defensive backfield once at Penn State, though that's something Malik had hoped to discuss with the coaches during his visit.
Malik's recruitment hit a slight snag a couple of weeks ago when some miscommunication ended his planned trip to Penn State after it had already begun. But according to Malik, it was a dual-miscommunication, so I'm not sure the staff can be completely faulted for this one. Either way, it worked out in the end, and Malik is now the 17th Class of 2012 commitment.
Outlook
Golden is a fluid runner that can accelerate quickly and breakaway from the pack. While those attributes might seem more suited for an offensive or special teams player, Golden is being recruited by Penn State to play in the secondary, specifically at corner.
Penn State is recruiting him to be a defensive back. "I don't have a preference about playing [offense or defense]," he said. "The only preference I have is if I play defense it's corner. That's where I feel comfortable at."
With the Nittany Lion backfield about to get a lot thinner after this season (by my count, only four CBs will be on roster), the secondary was a high target for the staff. All signs point to two cornerbacks and two safeties being taken in this class, and Golden is a solid cornerback, joining Armani Reeves with Jake Kiley being one of the safeties taken.
Unfortunately, the film above doesn't show too much of Golden on the defensive side of the ball. It would be nice to see him play some cover-2 and see what his closing speed and "stickability" are, but like Dowrey and Johnson, we'll have to trust that the staff saw something in camp that closed the deal for them.
It sounds like Golden had been high on Penn State for some time, the visit snafu notwithstanding. Now that he's on board, let's see if he can join the others in becoming a great recruiter for the Nittany Lions. Full court press on Spence, Cox, and Mahone, fellas.
Welcome to Penn State, Malik.