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[ Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 ]
Paterno to sign new recruits
By Brent Seberhagen
Collegian Staff Writer
A year ago at this time, the whispers were going around.
After signing the smallest recruiting class in his tenure, rumor had it that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was losing his touch. He was 'too old,' he was 'losing his competitive drive.' For the first time in years, Penn State's ace closer seemed to have lost his best pitch as blue-chip recruits opted for other schools.
But if there's one thing to say about Paterno, it is to never ever count him out. Little did the world know, that while they were laughing at Paterno's apparent shortcomings, he was secretly combing the land from the Pacific Northwest to Happy Valley, hand picking kids who would fit under Paterno's 'Grand Experiment.'
Kids who can play football. Kids who respect old-fashioned values. Kids who work as hard in the classroom as they do on the field. Most importantly, kids who can and will one day make a positive contribution to society.
The laughing came to a screeching halt as Paterno stormed away with the recruiting race, collecting 19 blue-chip verbal commitments before the season had even begun. And heading into today, National Signing Day, Paterno had put together a class sitting pretty with the top five in the nation, including at least two services — Rivals100 and Bill Hodge — crowning the Lions as kings of the recruiting jungle.
In the end, Paterno got the last laugh as he hauled in the latest crop of Penn State football players — all 29 of them.
Quarterback
After seemingly having the services of top-rated quarterback Chris Simms all but locked up last year, he pulled a virtual Dan Kendra and left the coaching staff scrambling. Having invested all their eggs in one basket, the Nittany Lions staff followed Paterno's age-old saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
The staff offered three scholarships to three QB's who fit the Penn State system and indicated there was a place on the team for the first two to commit.
The staff journeyed to the quarterback-rich Golden State to haul in the Los Angeles Daily News California Player of the Year (QB). They then ventured to their own backyard and picked up the career-passing leader among public high schools in the state of Maryland. The future of the Penn State air-attack rests in accomplished hands.
ZACK MILLS (6 feet 3 inches, 195 pounds, 4.7- 40) Ijamsville, Md., Urbana High School
3.47-GPA; 1050-SAT
"I want to win a national championship," Mills said. "That's one of the reasons why I picked Penn State was because of their tradition of winning. That's my major goal.
"It means more than you can say. Just all the history they have, not only the quarterbacks they've had, but overall the program. To play at a program at Penn State is unreal."
ZAC WASSERMAN (6 feet 3 inches, 200 pounds, 4.8- 40)
Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake High School
GPA-3.0
"When he dropped back to pass," coach Jim Benkert said, "he could throw the ball anywhere he wanted, at any time he wanted to."
Running Back
Penn State recruited several players capable of playing tailback, although there is no player considered a "pure" tailback.
MIKE GASPARATO (6 feet 1 inch, 205 pounds, 4.45- 40)
Columbia, S.C., Dutch Fork High School
GPA-3.0+; SAT-1000+
Bench-380 pounds
PETE GILMORE (5 feet 10 inches, 210 pounds, 4.5- 40)
Westlawn, Wilson High School
GPA-2.5; Bench-340 pounds; Squat-500 pounds
"Pete is very strong," coach Jim Contasio said. "He's got more of a fullback's mentality in that he likes to run over people rather than around them."
PAUL JEFFERSON (6 feet 1 inch, 240 pounds, 4.6- 40)
Wilkes-Barre, GAR
GPA-4.0; SAT-1060; Bench-365 pounds; Squat-400 pounds
Wide Receiver
Not an urgent need for Penn State, but the Lions landed two good ones, pulling one from the northwest corner of the country.
TONY JOHNSON (6 feet, 190 pounds, 4.5- 40)
State College, State College
Bench-245 pounds
RYAN SCOTT (6 feet 3 inches, 185 pounds, 4.5- 40)
Covington, Wash., Kentwood High School
Tight End
Tight end is a position that Penn State seems to have a knack for recruiting. This year was no different, as the Lions nabbed Ohio's Div. 4 offensive player of the year.
SEAN McHUGH (6 feet 6 inches, 240 pounds, 4.7- 40)
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Chagrin Falls High School
GPA-2.8; SAT-1160; Bench-335 pounds; Squat- 545 pounds
"I want to be a real threat that defenses really have to honor and worry about," he said.
Offensive Line
Penn State landed two of the three guys they really wanted, missing out on all-everything OL Kwame Harris who opted for Stanford. Penn State continued Big Ten trend of pursuing "XXL" linemen.
NICK MARMO (6 feet 6 inches, 315 pounds, 5.2- 40)
New Castle, New Castle High School
GPA-2.8; SAT-970; Bench-330 pounds; Squat-about 500 pounds
CHRIS McELVY (6 feet 4 inches, 295 pounds)
Lansdale, North Penn High School
GPA-3.45; SAT: 1060; Bench-400 pounds; Squat-600 pounds
"He is a bulldozer, he's just an animal in there," Bendorff said. "He's also one of the nicest kids you could meet. But he knows how to flip the switch, he gets nasty. Chris will bury you."
Defensive Line
Courtney Brown proved the true value of a dominant defensive lineman. With the departure of Brown, possibly Penn State's career leader in sacks and tackles for loss, Paterno and staff loaded up with seven defensive line prospects and have the near-consensus No. 1 defensive line class in the nation.
DAN ACRI (6 feet 4 inches, 235 pounds, 4.6- 40)
Harrisburg, Bishop McDevitt High School
JOHN BRONSON (6 feet 4 inches, 235 pounds, 4.7- 40)
Kent, Wash., Kent Meridian High School
JEREMIAH DAVIS (6 feet 5 inches, 245 pounds, 4.8- 40)
Annandale, Va., Annandale High School
GPA-2.5; SAT-1100 SAT; Bench-335 pounds; Squat-435 pounds
"The best thing about it (playing DL) is getting a clean hit on the running back cause it's just you and him," Davis said. "It doesn't happen very often from my position but when it does . . . I love to hit — I love to hit the running back I love to get quarterback sacks — just big hits basically. I just love big hits.
"Some people get high off drugs, I get high off of big hits."
"He was always awesome," Royster said. "He gets off the ball really quickly -- that's the thing that stands out about him, he's always making plays in the backfield."
SCOTT DAVIS (6 feet 3 inches, 270 pounds, 4.75- 40)
Parkersburg, W.V., Parkersburg High School
Bench-395, as of last spring
"I think if Scott does what the coaches want him to do," coach Marshall Brudette said, "I think he'll be playing on Sundays."
ELLERY MOORE (6 feet 3 inches, 255 pounds, 4.9- 40)
Massillon, Ohio, Massillon Washington High School
Bench-300 pounds
ERIK NOLL (6 feet 5 inches, 285 pounds, 4.8-40)
Gaithersburg, Md., Damascus High School
Bench-400+ pounds
JASON ROBINSON (6 feet 5 inches, 265 pounds, 4.8- 40)
Kingsway N.J., Swedesboro Regional
SAM RUHE (6 feet 5 inches, 240 pounds, 4.65- 40)
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Walsh Jesuit High School
Linebackers
In a similar situation to the defensive line, the linebacking corps needed to be completely re-tooled. The departure of LaVar Arrington, leaves a serious void in the pass-rush department. The nation's No. 1 prospect, linebacker D.J. Williams, changed his high school number to No. 11 in honor of Arrington. He considered Penn State early, but ultimately decided on Miami. One day before Signing Day, Williams renegaded on his commitment and is still considering Miami along with Florida State and Cal-Berkely.
J.D. BENSON (6 feet 4 inches, 200 pounds, 4.5- 40)
Lebanon, Lebanon High School
GPA-2.5; SAT-890
Bench-225 pounds; Squat-550 pounds
"He's not the athlete of LaVar, but he's got a similar style," his high school coach Giovinni said. "He's got the athletic ability they (Penn State) like in their linebackers. He can cover people out of the backfield and take on a tackle."
T.C. COSBY (6 feet 2 inches, 220 pounds, 4.6- 40)
Owings Mill, Md., McDonough High School
Bench-335 pounds
B.J. EVANGALISTA (6 feet 3 inches, 255 pounds, 4.7- 40)
Murrysville, Franklin Regional High School
TIM JOHNSON (6 feet 4 inches, 235 pounds)
Morris Township, N.J., Delbarton
Honor Roll student
"I would describe his overall play as 'dominating,' " his high school coach said. "He's just a warrior. He can run through people, yet he's fast enough to chase them down. Relentless."
His coach boldly remarked, "Tim is probably more athletic than Dick Butkus.
"He's not real vocal, he leads by example, goes 100 percent every time. He runs sprints in the spring like he's in the Superbowl."
"He'll lend to the tradition of hard-nosed well-mannered linebackers that you have up there (at Penn State)."
JESSE NEUMYER (6 feet 2 inches, 220 pounds, 4.5- 40)
Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Valley High School
DEREK WAKE (6 feet 3 inches, 235 pounds, 4.55- 40)
Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha Catholic High School
Bench-325 pounds
Defensive Backs
Along with Brown and Arrington, starting cornerbacks Anthony King and David Macklin will depart. Paterno once called Macklin perhaps one of the best corners he's ever coached. Luckily for Paterno, he hauled in an excellent trio of corners, with quality at safety.
SCOTT SANDEN (5 feet 11 inches, 190 pounds, 4.4- 40)
Fairfax, Va., Robinson Secondary High School
GPA-3.00; SAT-1060; Bench-300 pounds; Squat-400 pounds
PrepStar All-American; No. 12 prospect in Virginia by the Roanoke Times
"My favorite thing about defense is just lighting people up," Sanden said. "One (hit) that was real memorable was by the name of Chad Cooper, who got recruited by Penn State. He was a tight end and he was doing a 10-yard cross and put his hand up for the ball, and I got my helmet under his jaw. I hit him pretty good."
GERALD SMITH (5 feet 11 inches, 180 pounds, 4.45- 40)
Ellicott City, Md., Howard High School
GPA-3.5
"He is a gamebreaker," said Urbana coach Dave Carruthers. "He's got great speed. He can cover a lot of ground in little time."
Maryland continued to recruit Smith despite his verbal to Penn State.
ADAM TALIAFERRO (5 feet 11 inches, 184 pounds, 4.35- 40)
Voorhees, N.J., Eastern High School
Squat-390 pounds; Power Clean-260 pounds
Star Ledger's South Jersey Player of the Year; No. 6 CB prospect by Max Emfinger; No. 7 prospect in New Jersey; PrepStar All-American
"One-on-one (coverage), he's there with the best. He just accelerates out of the breaks as fast as anyone I've seen."
"This kid is too explosive to play on defense," Carchidi said. "He is a threat to score any time he touches the ball. He has moves that make him resemble a young Gale Sayers.
"The point is, this kid is electric. Many longtime high school coaches -- guys who have seen some of their players reach the NFL -- say they've never watched anyone like him."
His coach agrees.
"Let me just say this. I've had the opportunity to coach three first-round draft picks. He's the best football player I've coached."
JIMMY MITCHELL (6 feet 2 inches, 205 pounds, 4.37- 40)
Reading, Pa., Exeter High School
GPA-3.5; SAT-1080
Special Teams
The ever-reliable Travis Forney is graduating from his placekicking position. Junior Ryan Primanti will compete for kicking duties.
DAVE KIMBALL (6 feet 2 inches 180 pounds)
State College, State College High School
