There are still 10 days to go for Penn State to put the wraps on its 2011 football recruiting class, but there's a chance the Nittany Lions may already have finished up.
"I think 15 [recruits] is full for them,'' said Altoona native Cory James, who covers Penn State football recruiting for Scout.com, "but maybe they could find some room for the right kids.''
Deion Barnes' commitment on Thursday gave the Lions 14 recruits in this year's class. Cathedral Prep defensive back Shyquawm Pullium, who signed with the Lions last year but spent this season at Kiski Prep and has recommitted to Penn State, would fill the apparent number of available scholarships.
However, there are ways around that. Some players could be asked to grayshirt, or enroll next January. Then they would not count against the 85-player scholarship limit until next year, when Penn State is expected to have a lot more scholarships available.
While the Lions could close the book on this class now, they are still recruiting.
"They'd like to get a defensive tackle and a cornerback,'' James said.
Fact Box
| PENN STATE | ||||
| Player | Ht. | Wt. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Anthony Alosi | 6-6 | 282 | OT | Marlton, N.J. |
| Chose PSU over: UConn, UMass, Richmond, Tulane. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Dick Anderson | ||||
| FYI: Put on 20 pounds while prepping for a year at The Hun School in Princeton; neighbor is former first-round NFL draft pick Mike Schad. | ||||
| Deion Barnes | 6-5 | 222 | DE | Philadelphia, Pa. |
| Chose PSU over: Georgia, Michigan, Pitt, South Carolina. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Larry Johnson | ||||
| FYI: Philadelphia Daily News Public League co-player of year and Philadelphia Inquirer first-team all-southeastern Pa. pick was athletic enough to play WR in Chesapeake Bowl. | ||||
| Bill Belton | 5-10 | 185 | WR | Atco, N.J. |
| Chose PSU over: West Virginia, Cincinnati, Pitt. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Mike McQueary | ||||
| FYI: Cherry Hill Courier-Post player of year was QB in high school, becoming first New Jersey player to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in consecutive seasons. | ||||
| Kyle Carter | 6-4 | 233 | TE | New Castle, Del. |
| Chose PSU over: Bucknell, Delaware, Rutgers (did not offer before he committed). | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Ron Vanderlinden | ||||
| FYI: First player to commit to Lions back in May; third-team all-Delaware player is the cousin of one-time Pitt linebacker commit Quinton Alston. | ||||
| Sam Ficken | 6-3 | 180 | PK | Valparaiso, Ind. |
| Chose PSU over: Akron, Michigan, Ohio State, Colorado. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Mike McQueary | ||||
| FYI: In just his second year playing football, booted two field goals of more than 50 yards and made all-state first team. | ||||
| Jordan Kerner | 6-5 | 230 | DE | Fairview, Pa. |
| Chose PSU over: Iowa, Maryland, Boston College, Rutgers, West Virginia, Minnesota. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Mike McQueary | ||||
| FYI: District 10 Region 4 co-player of the year, four-year starter and first-team all-state pick played linebacker, running back and tight end in high school. | ||||
| Ben Kline | 6-3 | 225 | LB | Dallastown, Pa. |
| Chose PSU over: Pitt, Michigan, Rutgers, UConn, West Virginia. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Larry Johnson | ||||
| FYI: One-time Pitt commit bench presses 365 pounds, squats 550, runs 100-meter dash for his high school’s track team and made 157 tackles as a senior. | ||||
| Angelo Mangiro | 6-2 | 290 | G | Succasunna, N.J. |
| Chose PSU over: Rutgers, Ohio State. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Dick Anderson | ||||
| FYI: Four-year starter, two-time first-team all-state pick who led team to state championship as a junior and was selected to play in Under Armour All-American Game. | ||||
| Ryan Nowicki | 6-5 | 272 | OT | Glendale, Ariz. |
| Chose PSU over: USC, Washington, Oregon State. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Mike McQueary | ||||
| FYI: Illinois transplant was first-team all-state twice, led team to state title as a junior and a 10-2 record in senior year despite playing half the season with broken wrist. | ||||
| Shawn Oakman | 6-9 | 250 | DE | Lansdowne, Pa. |
| Chose PSU over: UConn, NC State, South Carolina, Rice. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Ron Vanderlinden | ||||
| FYI: Key member of Penn Woods’ PIAA Class AAAA basketball finalist teams the last two years. | ||||
| Allen Robinson | 6-3 | 195 | WR | West Bloomfield, Mich. |
| Chose PSU over: Toledo, Buffalo, Minnesota, Central Michigan. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Ron Vanderlinden | ||||
| FYI: One of Penn State freshman Rob Bolden’s favorite targets at St. Mary’s Prep was also considered a recruitable basketball talent. | ||||
| Donovan Smith | 6-6 | 300 | OT | Owings Mills, Md. |
| Chose PSU over: UCLA, NC State, Michigan State. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Larry Johnson | ||||
| FYI: U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant moved from Long Island entering sophomore year and helped school end 53-game losing streak. | ||||
| Matt Zanellato | 6-4 | 190 | WR | Burke, Va. |
| Chose PSU over: Delaware, Miami (Ohio). | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Larry Johnson | ||||
| FYI: Caught more than 90 passes his senior year and had three receptions for 146 yards in the Chesapeake Bowl. | ||||
| Anthony Zettel | 6-4 | 257 | DE | West Branch, Mich. |
| Chose PSU over: Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa. | ||||
| Assistant coach who opened the door: Ron Vanderlinden | ||||
| FYI: 65th-best prospect in the country according to Scout.com had 113 tackles and seven sacks as a senior; could eventually play defensive tackle and highly rated as guard, too. | ||||
| PITT | ||||
| Player | Ht. | Wt. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Jeremiah Bryson | 5-8 | 173 | RB | Smyrna, Tenn. |
| Chose Pitt over: Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina. | ||||
| FYI: Rushed for more than 1,500 yards as a senior while also hauling in 20 passes; offensive MVP of Tennessee 5A state championship game in 2007. | ||||
| Sam Collura | 6-3 | 250 | TE | Hyattsville, Md. |
| Chose Pitt over: Ohio, Buffalo, Akron. | ||||
| FYI: Played for former Central Cambria athlete Shane McGregor’s uncle at DeMatha. | ||||
| Corey Davis | 5-11 | 180 | RB | Gladewater, Texas |
| Chose Pitt over: Tulsa, Washington St., Wyoming. | ||||
| FYI: Averaged 8.4 yards per carry and had four 200-yard games on his way to earning all-state honors. | ||||
| Zenel Demhasaj | 6-7 | 320 | OT | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Chose Pitt over: Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Memphis, Wyoming, South Florida. | ||||
| FYI: Todd Graham’s first Panther recruit played junior college ball at Nassau Community College in New York; recovering from ACL injury. | ||||
| Justin Olack | 6-3 | 195 | WR | Massillon, Ohio |
| Chose Pitt over: Toledo, Cincinnati, Akron. | ||||
| FYI: One of two Division I wideouts on this year’s Massillon squad, he caught 37 passes for 661 yards and seven touchdowns. | ||||
| Artie Rowell | 6-2 | 296 | C | Harrisburg, Pa. |
| Chose Pitt over: Northwestern, Temple. | ||||
| FYI: Key blocker for Central Dauphin team that scored 35 points or better nine times this season and averaging almost 350 yards per game. | ||||
| Lafayette Pitts | 5-11 | 180 | CB | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Chose Pitt over: Rutgers, Iowa, West Virginia, Illinois. | ||||
| FYI: Latest product of Woodland Hills program that has turned out the likes of Jason Taylor, Steve Breaston and Ryan Mundy; played in Chesapeake Bowl. |
Wisconsin defensive tackle Donte' Phillips is on campus this weekend for an official visit along with already committed wide receiver Matt Zanellato from Virginia and place-kicker Sam Ficken of Indiana. Phillips doesn't have a scholarship offer yet, but many expect him to receive one before he returns home, and there's a strong feeling he'll wind up a Lion.
A first-team all-state selection, Phillips committed early to Indiana but began to look around when the Hoosiers made a coaching change. He's young for his class and, while not particularly highly graded by the scouting services at the moment, seems to be a fast-riser who's been drawing increasing attention from upper-tier colleges programs in recent weeks.
It appears the Lions would like to fill the latter need with current Michigan commit Blake Countess, a U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Maryland. Despite attempts by Brady Hoke and the new Wolverine coaching staff to dissuade him, Countess recently took a visit to Penn State.
Nittany Lion assistant coach Larry Johnson made an in-home visit with Countess on Thursday. Despite public comments from Countess's father that appeared to have the cornerback back with the Wolverines, it looks like Penn State is still in the mix.
"He spent the weekend with [former Good Counsel teammate and current Nittany Lion cornerback] Mike Wallace and seemed to hit it off with Larry Johnson,'' James said. "I don't know if he's as solid to Michigan as everyone thought he was.''
Penn State also made a scholarship offer last week to Akise Teague, Ohio's 2010 Mr. Football from Youngstown Ursuline, Darryl Clark's alma mater. Teague has committed to Cincinnati but is at least considering making a visit to Penn State. However, most believe he'd prefer to play running back, and there's speculation that the Lions might be looking at the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder for the secondary.
Four other Ohio players are on Penn State's radar, too, all from the traditional Ohio State stronghold of Glenville High School. Defensive lineman/linebacker Andre Sturdivant and receiver Shane Wynn visited last week, and blue-chip offensive lineman Aundrey Walker and linebacker Frank Clark are scheduled to be in next week.
James has doubts the Walker and Clark visits will take place - Walker is considered a heavy Ohio State lean - and thinks the Lions have cooled on the 5-8 Wynn, leaving Sturdivant as the best possibility to become a Lion.
James also addressed the recruiting saga of Ishaq Williams, the highly ranked defensive end from New York City who cancelled a visit to Penn State and committed to Notre Dame after an Irish coach visited him at 4:30 a.m.
While it was a big loss for the Lions, James did not think it was as damaging as it looked on the surface.
"I don't think they ever felt for sure they had him, and I don't think they were ever crushed they didn't get him,'' James said. "They already had a lot of good defensive ends in this class. They just got Barnes the other day.''
Signing day is Feb. 2.
