Recruit to add depth to PSU linebacker corps

By JOHN GIBLIN
Collegian Staff Writer

With the maximum number of scholarships (25) available for the recruiting class of 2000, the Penn State football team has been on a furious pace to fill those spots.

Add one more name to the list.

Eleven high school juniors have made verbal commitments to Penn State thus far, including J.D. Benson, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound linebacker from Lebanon High School.

Benson has had a solid career at Lebanon thus far. The linebacker made 94 tackles as a sophomore, and added 97 more stops the following year, including four sacks. That same season, Benson also picked off three passes.

He made a commitment while in Happy Valley this past April for Penn State's Blue-White game. NCAA rules stipulate members of the class of 2000 cannot sign a formal letter of intent until February of next year.

Penn State offered Benson a scholarship before his visit to Penn State. In addition, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Purdue and Wisconsin also had offered to pay the linebacker's way through school.

"He's real light on his feet — a playmaker. He's gotten offers from almost the entire Big Ten Conference. He knows how to make plays and how to create," said Mike Bakas of the Eastern Football Journal.

When it came down to making a final decision, many factors came into play.

"The big thing with him is he wants to stay close to home," said Lebanon football coach Bill Giovino.

Benson is the third high school linebacker to verbally commit to Penn State this year, along with Jesse Neumyer and B.J. Evangelista. With only four linebackers expected to graduate from "Linebacker U" after this season (Maurice Daniels, Aaron Gatten, Mac Morrison, and Brandon Short), it is highly unlikely that Penn State will offer many more scholarships at this position, something evident to both Benson and Giovino.

"We're really close to the area where (Manheim Central star quarterback) Jeff Smoker is from," Giovino said. "The situation with him is that Penn State offered three quarterbacks scholarships. The first two that accept, Penn State is going to take. Well, two quarterbacks have already committed to Penn State, and Smoker could be the odd man out. I think J.D. learned a little from that situation."

At only 210 pounds, Benson may need to gain weight in order to play linebacker at Penn State. But the speedster, who competes in the 100 and 200 meters for Lebanon's track team, has run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

"They're projecting him as an outside linebacker," Giovino said. "They want him to play the same position LaVar Arrington plays."