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February 04, 2015

National Signing Day 2015: Penn State recruiting takes a step forward

Matt Mullin
By Matt Mullin
PhillyVoice Staff
College Football Penn State
020415_James-Franklin_AP Keith Srakocic/AP

Penn State football coach James Franklin

What a difference a year can make. Last year, with NCAA sanctions still looming over the Penn State football program, the Niitany Lions recruiting class was ranked No. 24 in the country by ESPN.

Now, with the sanctions lifted and Joe Paterno's wins restored, coach James Franklin is putting in some serious work.

Penn State has signed 25 players, and they appear to be done for the day. Currently, their 2015 class is ranked 14th in the nation, 10 spots better than last year and their highest ranking since they were 11th in 2010.

Of their 25 new additions, nine are ranked in ESPN's top 300 in the nation. They are:

125. Sterling Jenkins

OT | 6-8, 305 lbs. | Baldwin H.S. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)


129. Ryan Bates

OT | 6-5, 271 lbs. | Archbishop Wood H.S. (Warminster, Pa.)


139. Garrett Taylor

CB | 6-1, 187 lbs. | St. Christophers H.S. (Richmond, Va.)


173. John Reid

CB | 5-10, 190 lbs. | St. Joe’s Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.)


195. Juwan Johnson

WR | 6-5, 212 lbs. | Glassboro H.S. (Glassboro, N.J.)


200. Steven Gonzalez

OG | 6-4, 310 lbs. | Union City H.S. (Union City, N.J.)


240. Manny Bowen

OLB | 6-3, 206 lbs. | Barnegat H.S. (Barnegat, N.J.)


265. Jonathan Holland

DE | 6-5, 225 lbs. | Bullis School (Potomac, Md.)


291. Saquon Barkley

RB | 6-5, 225 lbs. | Whitehall H.S. (Whitehall, Pa.)


Before we get to the rest of Franklin's haul, here's a look at what some other news outlets are saying about Penn State's recruits:


Not quite done yet?

A 26th player, former Stanford offensive lineman Kevin Reihner, intends on enrolling after he graduates from Stanford later this spring. He would be eligible to play his final season immediately for Penn State in the fall.

- Chris Adamski, triblive.com


Pitt's loss is PSU's gain

Defensive end Kevin Givens told Franco he was thinking all Monday night about a new scholarship offer that came, and it was the one the three-star prospect had been holding out hope for. Givens, verbally committed to Pitt, flipped his commitment to Penn State Tuesday in a move that surprised even Franco.

Givens is the second prospect to flip his commitment from Pitt to Penn State since Pat Narduzzi became the Panthers coach.

- Audrey Snyder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Nittany Lions 'dominate the state'

Of Penn State's 25 verbal commitments, 12 are from Pennsylvania, five are from New Jersey and five are from the Maryland-Virginia-Washington, D.C. region.

These areas have always been pipelines for Penn State. But after increased interest in the region from other programs (see Urban Meyer and Ohio State) and the additions of Rutgers and Maryland to the Big Ten, Franklin was able to keep those channels open. In his opening presser, Franklin followed up his claim to "dominate the state" by saying Penn State will "dominate the region." While that could be seen as a shot at the Scarlet Knights or Terrapins, little was made of the latter.

Regarding the former, Penn State and Pittsburgh have had to battle on the recruiting trail since their longtime series went dormant in 2000.

- John McGonigal, philly.com


Still recovering from Sandusky fallout?

USC went 9-4 the past season, and Penn State went 7-6. USC has known for a year that it would have 25 scholarships available for 2015. Penn State has known only since September, when the NCAA lifted the 10-scholarship penalty on the program for 2015 and 2016.

"We get a bunch of guys committed. We end up having to turn some guys down," Franklin said. "By the time we get the scholarships back, a lot of the guys we wanted are gone. They're committed to other places, or we told them no. And then what happens is you try to get involved with guys at the end, and people use that against you. 'Well, how come, if they wanted you so bad, they didn't offer you six months ago?' Well, six months ago, we didn't have these scholarships ... That's the hard part."

- Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com


New recruits can make immediate impact

A full recruiting class is a good start to building depth, and it's one of few tools in the coaching staff's arsenal to make immediate improvements. The Nittany Lions are still young, and they again have roster dilemmas in 2015 with the need to find two new starting defensive ends, replace three veteran safeties and again plug young offensive linemen in key spots on the depth chart.

Penn State's recruiting class, which ranks among the top 15 nationally on 247 Sports, ESPN, Rivals and Scout, has a chance to make an impact. Opportunities are there to make a splash in training camp and push for key jobs, and at least a handful have college-ready ability. In particular, the defensive backfield is worth watching as cornerbacks John Reid and Garrett Taylor and safeties Jarvis Miller, Ayron Monroe and Johnny Petrishen arrive on campus.

- Dustin Hockensmith, PennLive.com


Highlight reel

PennLive.com put together highlight film for all 25 Penn State recruits. Check that out here.


I think you have the wrong number...

Aleem Medley was on his way to work Wednesday morning when a FaceTime call lit up his iPhone. The ID read: Penn State Athletics. 

Medley, a lifelong Penn State fan from Philadelphia, thought it was odd but accepted the call. He'll never forget what he saw next. 

"It was Coach [James] Franklin," Medley told ESPN.com. "They had all the balloons in the background. I'm like, 'Coach?'" 

...

"I guess we were off a digit," Franklin told ESPN.com. "This guy comes on the screen and we're trying to call Shareef Miller and I'm thinking, 'This must be Shareef's older brother or someone I haven't met yet,' and the guy's got a huge smile on his face. He goes, 'Coach Franklin!' And I'm like, 'Yeah! What's going on? Congratulations!' 

- Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com


Franklin connecting with Recruits

Energy, passion and a way to relate to high school students have made Franklin, who turned 43 Monday, one of the top recruiters in the country. It's the reason that the Nittany Lions are ready to sign what has been ranked by recruiting services as the eighth- to 13th-best class in the nation.

"As soon as I met the guy, he was unbelievable," said offensive lineman Ryan Bates of Archbishop Wood. "He was real high-energy. He's a great guy, really down to earth, a real family man. I love his perspective on things. I love the man. He's awesome."

Brian Dohn, national recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said it's not just about energy with Franklin, it's also the fact that he and his entire staff are on Twitter, which attracts high school players because "it adds the factor of hipness to the coaches.

"The kids like that and they're excited by it," Dohn said. "Last year, everybody made a big deal out of James Franklin offering all these kids all over the country when he got the job. It served a purpose - it made people talk about Penn State. He really didn't get any of those kids, but it made Penn State exciting with the kids."

- Joe Juliano, philly.com


Here's a look at the rest of Penn State's 2015 recruiting class, starting with some local players:

Irvin Charles, WR


Jake Cooper, LB


Ryan Buchholz, DE


Shareef Miller, DE


Brandon Polk, WR


Nick Bowers, TE


Daiquan Kelly, ATH


Kamonte Carter, ATH


Tommy Stevens, QB


Paris Palmer, OT


Andre Robinson, RB


Jarvis Miller, S


John Petrishen, S


Ayron Monroe, S


Robert Windsor, OT


Kevin Givens, DE

Matt Mullin

Matt Mullin
PhillyVoice Staff

mullin@phillyvoice.com

Read more College Football Penn State Philadelphia Recruiting Signing Day James Franklin State College

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