SB Nation User Blog: BSD

Big Recruiting Weekend for PSU

BSD — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:48:24 -0000

Big Recruiting Weekend for PSU

Interesting Recruiting Developments

BSD — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:10:40 -0000

Michigan State picked up a QB commit today when Joe Boisture switched his verbal from Boston College to the Spartans.

Now, Penn State wasn't recruiting Boisture, so who cares right? Wrong. Penn State is recruiting the Rivals #6 quarterback Robert Bolden, who had listed Penn State and Michigan State in his final two.

The word is that Dantonio only planned to take one QB in this class. So there's a good chance the door is closed in East Lansing. Bolden will be visiting Penn State this weekend, and there is a high posibility we may get his commitment. That will give us two of the top ten rated quarterbacks in the country in this class with Bolden and Paul Jones.

This would easily give Penn State the best quarterback recruiting class in the country. Did you ever think you would see the day when the top quarterbacks in the country were competing to play for Jay Paterno?

Nitt Picks is Stalling

BSD — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:15:41 -0000

I believe RUTS will have a little BSD roundtable for you later today...or maybe tomorrow...or next week. He's currently AWOL and not responding to email. So we figure he either a) finally had the reality of marriage set in and jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to indulge in hookers and booze one last time, b) he's been abducted by an Amish cult that has enslaved him into giving up his worldly ways to pull a plow and impregnate the hairy women folk, or c) the last batch of home brew went horribly wrong. So here is a quick Nitt Picks to keep you occupied.

The Examiner asks if their glowing post about Penn State's awesome running backs was a little over the top. So they polled around to some of the other preseason publications and came to this conclusion.

Everybody seems to be saying the same things. Penn State does have the best running back unit entering this season, at least in the Big Ten. The hype is real. Some may even consider Royster a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, albeit a very long shot considering Tim Tebow (Florida, 2007 Heisman winner) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2008 Heisman winner) both return this year and Colt McCoy (Texas) is a trendy pick.

Really. It's ok to admit Penn State might be good at something. Gregg Doyel and the SEC homers will laugh at you, but sticks and stones and all that. After a while you get used to it.

Not surprisingly, the NCAA presidents shot down the Mountain West's proposal for an eight team playoff system. One of their main points of contention was the interference with the academic calendar, which The Nittany Line rightfully shoots out of the water.

As for the 'academic calendar' bullshit, please, please give me your schedule. Give me two weeks between Thanksgiving and the middle of January and I'll give you an 8 team playoff.

Week 1: 8 teams become 4
Week 2: 4 teams become 2
Championship game is played the same time it always is.

You're telling me your academic schedule can't handle that?! You're telling me you even care about academics in football? I seriously doubt it.

I have nothing else to add to that. Teams already practice three weeks for the bowl game with the final week being on location. If the NCAA can pull college basketball players out of class to travel for away games in the middle of the week and send the best teams to a month-long tournament where the first two rounds are played on Thursdays and Fridays, you give up any moral standing when it comes to concern about a student athlete suffering in school. (Ok, maybe I had a little bit to add to it.)

Here is a fascinating read I came across in a message board about an Alabama fan who struck up a poolside conversation with a former Penn State coach while on vacation.

This person, we’ll call him "Glenn" (because that’s his name), wasn’t bragging, because it was me pulling the info out of him over that two hour conversation. Instead, what he revealed was a content fanbase, confident in their leader who was committed to doing things the right way, with class. We swapped stories, though his were much more interesting. But he talked about Coach Paterno helping him get his start in coaching, letting him coach at Penn State for two years before setting out to coach elsewhere. He said Paterno didn’t recruit players, he recruited families, and if he got a bad vibe about a family, that was it.

There's more there including his encounters with Virginia Tech and Florida fans, so go check that out.

In Scores of Other Games

Since I'm too lazy to do these myself, Eleven Warriors has an Indiana Hoosiers preview.
This just in: Tickets to the Ohio State game might be expensive.
SI has a nice article on Talor Battle. (H/T 20,000+)

Nitt Picks Has No Theme

BSD — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:14:57 -0000

We're going all over the place with this Nitt Picks today, so hang on tight.

First up, let's get the basketball stuff out of the way. Fox Sports takes an offseason look at the Big Ten and leaks some tidbits on Penn State's out of conference schedule.

Penn State – The Nittany Lions will play in the Charleston Classic and also have non-conference games at Virginia on Nov. 30 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, on the road against Temple and at home against Virginia Tech.

The reaction from Penn State basketball blogs 20,000+ and Crispin and Cream is generally positive.

Moving to football, the Examiner thinks Penn State will have the best running backs in the Big Ten this year.

Penn State (Grade: A)

With Evan Royster returning to the Penn State backfield after a dazzling 2008 season, the Nittany Lions are the obvious choice to field the best running back unit. Royster’s quick and elusive running style propelled him to 1,236 yards and 12 TDs on 191 carries a year ago, and those numbers should increase in 2009 as he takes on a more featured role in the Penn State offense. Defenses will likely key in on Royster because of his big play potential, yet his sheer athleticism will enable him to stockpile yards even with 7 and 8 defenders in the box.

Sophomore Stephfon Green enters the season as the premier backup running back in the conference, after his freshman campaign consisted of 578 yards and 4 TDs on 105 carries. Green is also a threat in the passing game, as he snagged 15 passes for 268 yards (17.9 YPC) and a touchdown last season. With Penn State’s top receivers gone to graduation, expect the Nittany Lions to rely on Royster and Green to fill the void.

So Yay and all that.

Penn State may get a big commitment in the coming days from Virginia defensive lineman Evan Hailes.

"I have a top five," Hailes said. "It's Penn State, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, North Carolina State and LSU. I've visited Virginia Tech and Tennessee so far. I visit Penn State this Friday.

"After I visit Penn State I'll make my decision. I'll decide at the end of this week or beginning of next week."

It's usually a good sign when a kid says he's going to make a decision soon and he has one more visit to go. It probably means he knows what he wants to do and he wants to make one more visit to confirm it. And the fact that Penn State will get the last word in really helps.

Hailes is a four star recruit with an impressive offer list that includes Michigan, LSU, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, West Virginia, Clemson, and Cal among others.

Let's move on to volleyball now, where it's not only football and basketball that have problems putting together a good non-conference schedule.

"I tried very hard to get a number of people to play, talked to a number of teams in the top 10, and there were some people that didn’t want to play us home or away," head coach Russ Rose said. "And there were some that didn’t want to come and play us. Scheduling is not as easy as maybe people think it is."

I suggest you read the entire article. It's a fascinating read on how difficult it is to get marquee volleyball teams from the midwest and west coast to travel east to play in Rec Hall.

In Scores of Other Games

Varisty Blue has an interesting preview of Illinois.
Our Honor Defend has a Wisconsin preview.
Adam Rittenberg has a great article on the Evolution of Navorro Bowman.
Some whiney brat on Bleacher Report brags about not ordering student tickets for his senior year. His reason: He's getting too old for it. For his sake I hope this was a satire piece.

Oh No! Pitt Sucks Again!

BSD — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:06:16 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

Joe Paterno laughs at Pitt's misfortune. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

What a great recruiting season it has been for Penn State. What has made it even sweeter has been watching our little brother to the southwest strikeout on their top targets time and time again.

So this week I was disappointed to see a little life breathed into Pitt fans when they got a verbal commitment from T.J. Clemmings. Of course the message boards spun it around to sound like they stole one from Penn State, but I can't find any evidence that the kid even had an offer from us. But it was cute to see the sPitters rejoicing in their own greatness again.

Which makes it all the more sweeter to see today that no, sorry, T.J. Clemmings is not quite a Panther yet.

Paterson Catholic defensive lineman Trevor "T.J." Clemmings is not committed to Pitt, according to PC head coach Benjie Wimberly.
"He went out there and made a hasty decision [to commit] without any input from his parents or me," Wimberly said Monday night. "He’s going to rethink it and continue the recruiting process."

Pitt message board meltdown in 3...2...1...

F his F'in coach, what a D-bag. I am sick of this crazy recruiting season.

BTW, if I'm Wanny, I schedule two meetings, the first one with TJ and his family. Wanny should let them know that he will continue to recruit TJ hard and that he thinks Pitt is the best place for TJ, both academically and athletically. He should tell them that he understands that they want to look around and he is supportive of TJ finding the best place for him.

The second meeting is with the HS coach, and Wanny should bring Bennett or Gattusso or any other large member of the Pitt coaching staff (perhaps Buddy Morris). Wanny should make sure it is a closed door meeting and I would tell the HS coach that if he does anything to steer the kid away from Pitt, that Wanny will ruin the man professionally and personally. Wanny should also let the HS coach that he will be checking in with TJ each week to find out if the HS coach has been bad mouthing Pitt to TJ. Of course, this is in an ideal world.

I am getting sick of this ****. Is there a coach who actually wants his kids to go to Pitt? I mean, it is a great school, it only has the single best player in the NFL as an alum, it has the best defensive back in the league as an alum and the best young OL in the NFL as an alum. You can do alot worse than this. I am so ******* sick of this crap. Just pay the kid and his coaches like most other schools do and be done with it.

wow i am pissed off now.

After reading the coach's comments and if the kid decommits, I am going to think the coach is on the payroll wherever Clemmings commits.

our crap conference, our crap attendance, our crap records under wannstedt will rear their ugly heads once again.

We aren't Florida or USC...

bigkatzbigdreams

BSD — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:25:29 -0000

bigkatzbigdreams

Not to be outdone by Maurice Clarrett, former Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer has a blog now.

That funy s**t write there.

Penn State Blue Band (Failure Flip) (via Kurtcleck5300)

BSD — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:43:46 -0000

Penn State Blue Band (Failure Flip) (via Kurtcleck5300)

Penn State Freshmen Update

BSD — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:38:17 -0000

It's that time of year where there are a bunch of high school all star football games going on, and there are a few Penn State freshmen participating here and there before they enroll later this summer. The most notable of local interest is the Big 33 Game held yesterday, and Curtis Drake completely dominated.

Drake was at times dominant playing in the shotgun with 17 carries for 88 yards and two scores, including a nifty 1-yard run on a quarterback draw with 2:21 remaining in regulation that tied the game 31-31.

Then there is this account of the game.

Down by a touchdown in the final three minutes, Drake – who played quarterback Saturday but will be a receiver at Penn State – found West Catholic teammate Rob Holloman out of the backfield for a big gain into Ohio territory.
A few plays later, he hooked up with incoming Penn State tight end Garry Gilliam (Milton Hershey) down the seam to put the ball at the 1-yard line.

Drake, who was named MVP for Pennsylvania, scored his second rushing touchdown of the game on the next play on a QB keeper to tie it at 31.

Drake also had a critical fumble, but he was still given MVP honors for the PA team. Drake is expected to play wide receiver for Penn State this fall, but he hints that maybe the coaches are thinking about trying him out a quarterback.

"At first they were talking about wide receiver, playing in the slot," Drake said last week. "Then I had a couple of all-star games and started practicing with the Big 33 team as a quarterback, and I got to see Joe Paterno in person. They started talking about me playing quarterback at Penn State."

Drake doesn't specifiy who "they" are, so I can't tell if he's talking about the Penn State coaches or the high school coaches in the Big 33 game. More after the jump.

In other news, incoming wide receiver Christian Kuntz was equally dominant in the Pennsylvania East-West game.

Penn State-bound wideout Christian Kuntz (Camp Hill Trinity High School) caught two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, of 66 and 12 yards from Campman, to make the final score respectable.

Kuntz finished with five catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns. This kid really could end up being a diamond in the rough for Penn State. He flew under the recruiting radar because his high school played him at running back instead of his more natural position of wide receiver. Then he tore his knee up and had to miss his senior year, so he never really got any attention in the recruiting scene. But as the story goes, he attended a camp at Penn State last summer and looked so impressive in running routes and catching passes that Mike McQueary pulled him aside and offered him a scholarship on the spot. I'm interested to see what he can do after a redshirt year to learn the position.

Moving along, everyone's favorite comedian Stephen Obeng-Agyapong likes to hurt people.

"He looks like a small guy, but when he gets on the field he turns into a totally different person," Kennedy and NYC teammate Ozzie Garcia said. "When we are out here practicing, you see him coming down to hit the running back and they blow the whistle. You knew it was going to be a big hit."

It is the thing the Penn State-bound free safety enjoys most about his position.

"That’s one of my favorite things to do," Obeng said. … "They don’t see you coming and you just knock them out. Sometimes they do and you still knock them out."

Obeng-Agyapong will be playing in the Empire Challenge, a high school all star game in New York. Here's a scouting report on him.

I also got a glimpse of what makes Obeng, who is heading to Penn State, so good. As a free safety, he came all the way across the field to the sidelines to break up two pass plays. First he leaped in the air to help knock down a ball on a deep route and the other he got a hand on late.

"He is definitely going to be game-changer on Tuesday, with his speed you know he can get there and make a big catch," Garcia said. "He can take the interception to the house."

Finally, if you don't know who Moses Washington is, he was a track star at Oklahoma and a cornerback on the Sooners' 2000 National Championship football team. He's also a competitor on Michael Irvin's reality show, 4th and Long, about a bunch of athletes competing to earn a spot in the Dallas Cowboys' training camp.

So now that you know who Moses Washington is, here is a video of Penn State verbal commit Adrian Coxson taking him to school in a one-on-one competition.

Under an overcast sky Thursday morning the final beam for the Mount Nittany Medical Center East...

BSD — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:42:12 -0000

Under an overcast sky Thursday morning the final beam for the Mount Nittany Medical Center East Wing expansion was lifted into place, bearing the signatures of close to 200 people.

Among those at the hospital to make the occasion were Joe and Sue Paterno, on hand to announce a $1 million gift for the Foundation for Mount Nittany Medical Center.

Joe Paterno played down the couple’s gift, saying it was a small part of a larger effort by the community to build a better health care system.

Joe and Sue Paterno Donate $1 Million to Mount Nittany Medical Center

Nitt Picks is Asterisk Free

BSD — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:12:36 -0000

If you haven't heard by now, the NCAA has listened to Florida State's hissy fit to not vacate 14 wins that were ~~earned~~ stolen while using several players that were caugh cheating on an online course. The response is back from the NCAA, and it's no soup for you.

The committee pointed to six factors "as relevant to the imposition of a vacation penalty." Those factors included:

• A large number of violations committed by three former staff members.

• The violations were severe and intentional.

• Failure by the institution to monitor.

The university stated in its appeal in late April that vacating victories would be excessive in this case. A penalty, according to NCAA bylaws, can be overturned provided "that penalty is excessive such that it constitutes an abuse of discretion."

The committee response to that was:

"In light of these aggravating factors, the university cannot begin to make its required showing that the vacation of records is 'excessive such that it constitutes an abuse of discretion' by the Committee on Infractions."

Now, I think I've already made myself clear on where I stand in terms of my respect for Bobby Bowden. That's why it burns me up when I see people start talking about asterisks.

Records can be strange beasts. Roger Maris had to put an asterisk by his 61 home runs; Barry Bonds' colossal season and career totals may not even stay in the books by the time the "Steroid Era" is finally exhausted and put out of its misery.
...

So it is now in Bobby Bowden's chase for the career wins record, which enters the 2009 season -- in all likelihood either his last or next-to-last season at Florida State -- one game behind Joe Paterno in actual wins: Bowden has 382 to JoePa's 383. But even if FSU wins enough games to pass Joe for that mark while Bowden is still boss, the official win total is looking more and more like it's all Paterno's to lose:

With all respect to the Good Dr. Saturday, I think talk of asterisks is inappropriate here. This is not like Roger Maris having an extra 18 games and 70 at bats to pass Babe Ruth. If and when the wins are vacated from the record book, they are gone. They aren't floating around in the margins of the page somewhere. They're gone. If Bowden were to win more games than JoePa in these final few years of their careers, giving him credit for more actual wins would be a great disservice to Paterno. The fact is that Bowden and his staff did not have their players under control. They were cheating on exams while tutors and staff members either enabled them or looked the other way. They cheated, plain and simple. To say he is the actual leader is like saying Shonn Greene was the actual NCAA rushing leader last year, but he had 250 yards called back because of holding penalties. When you cheat there is a penalty to be paid, and you don't get an asterisk as a consolation prize.

In Scores of Other Games

Talor Battle has made the USA World University team.
Mark Arcidiacono is living the dream.
Two guys got lost in Pittsburgh with the Stanley Cup in their trunk.
Blog, Sweat and Tears looks at how the recruiting class is shaping up and a potential numbers crunch coming up.