We're very close to entering into the dead months of the recruiting calendar. Now that recruits are all starting up their high school seasons, most of them like to take things significantly slower. They'll still take visits to schools for games and things of that nature, but in general, there isn't much movement. So once football season starts up, my roundups will become much less frequent (But anything truly newsworthy, I will make a post for, aside from simply tweeting about it). With that being said, I leave you with my favorite moment in my favorite episode in Office history. Enjoy.
Time to find a New Linebacker
As you all probably know by now, Jared Wangler has decommitted from Penn State, and committed to play for Brady Hoke's squad, up in Ann Arbor. While this news is certainly disappointing, it's not very surprising. Jared has every reason in the world to want to be a Wolverine. He's from the area, his father was a legendary UM quarterback, his brother is currently on the team, and one of his good friends is 2013 commit, Shane Morris. Don't hold any bitter feelings towards Jared. He had pretty good reason to believe that Michigan was never going to offer him, so don't blame him for committing and decommitting. We wish Jared all the best, except for when he's playing against Penn State. Read Maize n Brew's introduction post for him here.
Visit Recaps
Mike Gesicki and Montae Nicholson both paid visits to State College this past weekend. BWI has a full recap of Gesicki's visit here ($). His recruitment is still playing out, and while I still believe Ohio State is the team to beat, it would seem that this race is getting closer and closer. Expect a decision from the Manahawkin product sometime in early November. Montae Nicholson took a surprise visit to Happy Valley this weekend to come watch practice. I know this partially because of tweets from Sean Fitz and Ryan Snyder, and also because Montae and I were in the Family Clothesline at the same time on Sunday. This is why they pay me the big bucks people, these are the inside scoops that matter. Montae still holds PSU in high regards, and he plans on narrowing his top 12 sometime during this upcoming football season.
Antoine White's Decision
Come January I will begin my journey to Happy Valley and start my early enrollment ! Can't wait, big things ahead.
— Antoine White (@antoinewhite53) August 8, 2013
Antoine has officially decided to enroll early, meaning that there is a good chance this 2014 class ends up containing 17 players. I spoke with Antoine a little about his decision, and he was absolutely beaming about it. He told me he spent a lot of time thinking about it, but in the end, it was the easiest decision he ever made. We look forward to having you on campus this year, Antoine!
For this week's quotes, we shall use Blades of Glory.
Penn State Recruiting Class of 2014 Big Board
Current Commitments: 12
Overall Big Board of 2014 Recruits
This board will be a ranking of the remaining recruits based on my opinion of who the staff desires most. It will not take into account the likelihood of their commitment.
1. Dravon Henry
2. Thomas Holley
3. Montae Nicholson
4. Ricky Walker
5. Mike Gesicki
6. Alex Bookser
7. Derrick Nnadi
8. Joe Keels
9. Qadree Ollison
10. Jason Cabinda
Class of 2015 (And Beyond) Updates
Names will be followed by Year, Position, High School, and Star Rating According to 247Sports.
Tommy Hatton (2015) (OL) (St. Joseph's Regional (NJ)) (4*)- Has Penn State as his favorite-Still planning on visiting for a game-Knows he needs to work on footwork-Should be earning his Penn State offer very soon
Jerome Baker (2015) (LB) (Benedictine (OH)) (4*)- Ohio State looks to be the favorite-PSU has some work to do
Jake Cooper (2015) (LB) (Archbishop Wood) (3*)- Shutting down all recruiting to prepare for camp-Big wrestler as well-Should earn a PSU offer by the middle of his season
Sorry I didn't have more to tell you guys this week, but like I said, recruiting is slow right now (Especially for a team with limited scholarships to hand out). As I mentioned earlier, now that the season is starting up here in a few weeks, recruiting slows to a near molasses-pace. As a result of this, Cari and I will only each be posting once every 4 weeks (Alternating between the two of us, every 2 weeks), so my next Roundup isn't going to come until about a month from now. Like I said though, I'll be sure to post any updates that I deem noteworthy during that time, and be sure to follow me on twitter for updates as well. Don't fret though, I'll still be posting regularly, just more about the current team and less about recruiting during the season. Finally, as you may have seen, I just began writing for PSU in the NFL thanks to my friend, Brian (PSUDrumline or something like that), who is now in charge of the whole site. While the first week's recap was short and dry, I promise that future recaps will fulfill all of your wildest fantasies. So be sure to check over there for weekly recaps of our former Nittany Lions in their NFL exploits. (Check out Victory Bell Rings for such articles as well).
Today, I leave you with this wonderful Vine, courtesy of Da'Quan Davis.
#PSUFootball Freshman Treatment "Adam Breneman" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/VQ8ClaYfBl
— Da'Quan Davis (@__trepound) August 13, 2013
Merry Wednesday to all, and to all, a good morning. Unless, of course, you're reading this in the afternoon or at night. In which case...
More from Black Shoe Diaries:
- Penn State Quarterback Competition - Point: Start Tyler Ferguson
- Only Mystery McNeil Until Penn State Football
- Penn State vs. Syracuse Tickets Available On Groupon
- Penn State Adds San Diego State to 2015 Schedule
- Black Shoe Podcast - Episode 1.1 - The Preseason
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