Putting together a top-five recruiting class this year wasn't very difficult for the Penn State football coaching staff.
Keeping it together is turning out to be a different story.
Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones has wavered on his verbal commitment to the Lions a couple of times. Then, Adrian Coxson, a top-10 wide receiver recruit from Baltimore, set up official visits with Florida and Georgia, taking his official visit to Gainesville last weekend.
Now Dominique Easley, the four-star defensive lineman from Staten Island, appears to be rethinking his pledge. Easley took an official visit to Oregon for the Ducks' game with Oregon State last week.
Oregon has a policy of not allowing official visits to prospects committed to other colleges. Scout.com is now listing Easley, a 6-foot-2, 253-pound defensive end, as a soft commitment to Penn State.
Attempts to reach Easley on Sunday were unsuccessful. However, an interview with Scout.com made it seem there was a strong possibility he would eventually sign with the Ducks instead of Penn State, although Easley is still scheduled to make an official visit to University Park.
Easley is part of a strong group of defensive linemen who have committed to Penn State this year - tackles Evan Hailes and DaQuan Jones and ends Kyle Baublitz and C.J. Olaniyan are all four-star prospects according to at least one scouting service.
The Lions are also one of the leaders - possibly the team to beat - for four-star tackle Mike Thornton of Georgia and are still involved with five-star defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd of Philadelphia according to one of his high school's assistant coaches.
The Lions currently have 20 recruits in its 2010 class.
Easley originally committed to Penn State in late September. It was believed that he was poised to commit to Florida during a visit there a few weeks earlier but then dropped the Gators when they didn't immediately accept his pledge.
It's looking like the Lions are in better position with Jones and Coxson. Jones is said to have been firmly committed for a couple of months now and is set to enroll in January. Coxson was speculated to be looking around because of some of the staff's lukewarm feelings about keeping him and issues about the Lions' getting close to the scholarship limits, but two assistant coaches reportedly visited Coxson on Tuesday, and he is supposed to be making an official visit to Penn State, as well.
Jones was expected to be among around a dozen or so Lion commitments coming to Penn State this weekend. Jones recently was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game in January, where he'll be joined by fellow Lion recruits Mike Hull, Zach Zwinak, Silas Redd and Khairi Fortt.
