Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Recruiting News

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any major college football team.  If you want to have the best team, you need to have the best players.  All of that should go without saying.  Well, if you still don’t understand the importance of the Michigan game for recruiting, let me give you a quick rundown of the past week.  Keep in mind that an estimated 100 potential recruits were on hand to witness the epic 4 OT win from the sidelines:

- Back on Thursday, NJ tight end Mike Gesicki (4 stars), who is the #1 TE recruit in the country, committed to Penn State, passing up an offer from Ohio State in the process.

- Then, on Sunday night, MA running back Johnathan Thomas (3 stars) decommitted from Maryland and flipped to Penn State.  He called Penn State his “dream school.”

- Today, NJ linebacker Jason Cabinda (3 stars) decommitted from Syracuse and flipped to Penn State as well.  He originally wanted to commit to the Lions, but with both Troy Reeder and Jared Wangler already on board and the scholarship limitations in place, there simply wasn't room.  However, with the decommitment of Wangler, somewhat ironically to Michigan, and the recent increase in scholarships, O'Brien was finally able to land Cabinda.

I find it amusing that Maryland and Rutgers will be joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014.  Both Gesicki and Cabinda are from New Jersey, home of Rutgers, and although Thomas is from Massachusetts, he was originally committed to Maryland.  O'Brien continues to show off his recruiting acumen by landing top players at positions of need, and the good news both on and off the field is only making his job that much easier.  Penn State’s 2013 class is now ranked in the top 30 with every major recruiting service, and I wouldn't be surprised if they get bumped up after these 3 big pickups.

Johnathan Thomas: http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2013/10/latest_penn_state_commit_johna.html

Jason Cabinda: http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2013/10/linebacker_jason_cabinda_says.html

Mike Gesicki: http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2013/10/tight_end_mike_gesicki_opts_to.html
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2013 at 4:46 AM

    We have a pretty good shot at 5* DT Thomas Holley, who should be making his commitment sometime within the next few weeks. He's planning on taking OVs to ND and possibly Florida, but it's looking to be a PSU-OSU battle again for this one. According to insiders, he enjoyed his OSU OV last weekend, but not as much as his PSU one (which was the Michigan game). Getting a commitment from him would solidify this class up.

    From there, I see the 2014 class being rounded out with another LB, another DB, and the rest being linemen.

    As for 2015, we are in the mix for a lot of 4* linemen, which will definitely be the focus of the 2015 class. A lot of kids are high on us after the Michigan game. We'll probably have to wait until after the HS football season is over before we see momentum in that class.

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  2. UnknownOctober 28, 2013 at 6:18 PM

    agreed, that commitment would make for an awesome 2014 class. I think they've already said they're done at LB, so I doubt there'll be another one in this class. More linemen though would be nice.

    As for 2015, yes, that should be a mighty hefty class indeed.

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