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)