National letter of intent day is a mere three weeks away; the final stretch of the 2004 recruiting season is in full swing. College programs across the nation are working overtime to schedule in the last remaining prospects to official visits in hopes of gaining verbal commitments to meet the needs of the roster.

Penn State currently boasts a top-10 recruiting class with its 22 commitments, but will likely sign close to 30 players come early February. The latest update comes from the commitment yesterday of Georgia athlete Jordan Lyons chose the Lions over Notre Dame.

As it comes down to the wire, here are some updates from the world of recruiting.

Clark's cryptic comments

The big news for Penn State recruiting last week was the delayed announcement of Ursuline quarterback Daryll Clark to his college choice. Throughout much of his recruiting process, he has made it clear that Penn State is at the top of his list. He reaffirmed that last Thursday when I spoke to him as he stated: "I want to go to Penn State.

"So why hasn't he verballed officially?There is a valid reason for his decision to delay, however he requested that it not be published in the media. Still, the message boards across the Nittany Nation characteristically had their fair share of uneducated knee-jerk reactions this weekend as there was speculation that Clark had a change of heart toward the Lions.

He hasn't.

Others guessed it was because he is waiting to see if any more coaches on the staff will be shuffled around.

Class of 2004 wide receiver Mark Rubin, who has been in close contact with Clark since they both took their official visits to Penn State back in early December, also said the quarterback looks favorably on the Lions.

"I hung out with [Clark] a lot on the official visit and I've talked to him a bunch of times over the phone," Rubin said. "Obviously, I want him at Penn State and I think we have a very good shot to land him from the way it sounds.

"Clark will almost certainly wear the blue and white next season. Expect him to make it official, if not today, sometime this week.

The tight end/quarterback controversy

Et tu Henné?

When Wilson quarterback Chad Henne committed to Big Ten Conference rival Michigan back in August, Penn State fans were left clueless as to who the next quarterback would be for the future of the program.

For months after, Penn State fans faced the distinct possibility that for the third straight year, the Lions would not sign a quarterback in their recruiting class.

Since then, there has been a bottleneck of quarterbacks to commit to Penn State, and the problem no longer seems to be who will play under center, but who will play tight end.

Aside from quarterback, the tight end position was one area this offseason that the Penn State coaching staff needed to fill a void for departed seniors Casey Williams, Matt Kranchick and Mike Lukac.

Currently, 6-foot-4, 235-pound Jed Hill has been the only true tight end prospect to commit to the Lions. However, it would not be unlikely to see either Paul Cianciolo or Jordan Lyons to make the switch to tight end at some point in their careers.

Cianciolo is listed at 6-foot-4 220 pounds, while Lyons is 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds.

Either of these prospects has the size and athleticism to play the tight end position.With the likely commitment of Clark to this year's class, thus bringing the total number of quarterbacks to four, the likelihood of Cianciolo, Lyons or both changing positions seems all the more likely.

Only time will tell.

The next Bryan Scott?

When describing an offensive lineman, words like "big," "ugly" and "mean" are typically fitting.

Add "angelic voice" to that list.Following in the footsteps of other musically inclined Penn State football players like Bryan Scott, incoming offensive lineman Gerald Cadogan will be making plays on the field, and making music off the field."I sing in my choir," the 6-foot-7, 310 pound Cadogan said. "I'm in a show choir called Expression. Music is a big part of my life. I want to continue doing that at Penn State.

"Talk about standing out in a crowd."We had a competition a few weeks back," Cadogan said. "They thought I was the choir director.

"He plans to major in biology with a minor in music upon enrolling at Penn State this fall.

Quote of the week

"I labored over it quite a while, and the fact that Notre Dame is very poor, they've only got 8 kids committed so far. Very few, if any of them are highly ranked in the nation. I guess, I thought about it for a very long time, and Penn State seemed like the better place to be.

" -- Jordan Lyons, on chosing Penn State over Notre Dame yesterday.