Football lands two recruits

By JOHN GIBLIN
Collegian Staff Writer

Two high school seniors who attended Penn State's home football contest Saturday against Arizona made verbal commitments to the Nittany Lions yesterday, raising the number for the recruiting class of 2000 to 21.

Tim Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound linebacker/defensive end from Delbarton High School in Morristown, N.J., and Erik Noll, a 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive lineman from Gaithersburg High School in Watkins Mill, Md. both announced their intention to play for the Lions next season.

Johnson is the son of former Penn State linebacker/tight end Pete Johnson, who was a roommate of current Lions offensive coordinator Fran Ganter when he played from 1967-69. Johnson was named Morris County's Defensive Player of the Year last season when he had 94 tackles, 14.5 sacks, an interception and forced three fumbles.

"He's a tremendous athlete with outstanding explosion and quickness," said Mike Bakas of the Eastern Football Journal. "He's a very strong and aggressive player on both sides of the ball."

Johnson is one of the top 100 players in the country, said Jeremy Crabtree of National Recruiting Advisor.

He is also a consensus All-American, and owns a 3.0 grade-point average and a 1260 SAT score. In the weightroom, Johnson has bench-pressed 350 pounds and squatted 495 pounds. Johnson chose the Lions as opposed to UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan and North Carolina.

"I've been up (to Penn State) a bunch of times so I'm real familiar with them," Johnson said.

Noll, another consensus All-American, announced his decision yesterday during a noon press conference at his high school. He is considered Maryland's top-rated high school prospect. Noll runs the 40-yard dash in 4.84 seconds and bench-presses 385 pounds. Last year, he made 34 solo tackles, 71 assists and seven sacks.

"I liked the sincerity and the positive message from the coaches, especially (defensive ends) coach (Larry) Johnson, who recruited me. I love the campus at State College because I did not want to go to a big city school. Penn State has what I felt was the best computer science program, my intended field of study. The team, coaches, and community showed me a lot of support, so I committed to them."

Noll shunned offers from Ohio State, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Syracuse, Michigan and South Carolina.

When asked if the win over Arizona had any impact on his decision, Noll said, "Actually I talked to coach Johnson about my decision three weeks ago. I just waited until now to announce it."

He carries a 2.8 grade-point-average and posted an 1120 on the SAT.