04/26/24
February 01, 2012
Penn State Recruiting Class Flops as Top Athletes Decommit: As colleges secure players on National Signing Day, Penn State's recruiting class for 2012 fell apart after the child sex abuse scandal and the slow hire of new coach Bill O'Brien to succeed the late Joe Paterno. Seven players cancelled their commitments to the school after the scandal, including four ranked in the top 250 by Rivals. All four signed with Ohio State. The best recruit going to Penn State is probably Eugene Lewis of Plymouth, Pa., a quarterback projected to play wide receiver. "I'm excited for him to be my coach," Lewis said of O'Brien. "He's definitely a guy I want to play for." Penn State didn't get a single big-impact recruit from the state of Pennsylvania, reports PennLive: "[A]ll of the big names PSU once had its mitts on are gone."
I would've been shocked if a single top recruit had stayed. Given the talk on Penn State's fan boards that Urban Meyer should be Paterno's successor, it has to be particularly painful that he poached all their best commits.
posted by rcade at 11:44 AM on February 01, 2012
You gotta be kidding me. Urban Meyer at Penn State? Urban Meyer, the born and raised and educated Ohian? The same Urban Meyer that got a Masters degree at Ohio State would eschew a coaching job at the same school for a conference rival? What planet do some of these Penn Staters live on?
posted by NoMich at 12:00 PM on February 01, 2012
NoMich wrote: "It's going to be even tougher for them once the NCAA hits them with a whole raft of penalties."
Penalties for what? this is not an NCAA issue, this had nothing to do with the football team or athletic program itself, Sandusky has not been employed by the school in a long time. He was just granted permision to use the facilities for his so called "Youth Program."
posted by bo_fan at 12:31 PM on February 01, 2012
Penn State could potentially be punished by the NCAA for a lack of institutional control and a violation of ethical standards. An investigation is underway.
The school also may have violated a federal law requiring universities to report all sex crimes that take place on campus.
posted by rcade at 12:33 PM on February 01, 2012
What rcade said.
I should also throw in this disclaimer: I'm actually a fan of Penn State football and grew up in a household that held Joe Paterno in very high regard. So, I had nothing against them going into this whole ordeal and hope that they, one day, can regain a status as a top notch football program.
posted by NoMich at 01:36 PM on February 01, 2012
a lack of institutional control and a violation of ethical standards
Are we talking about Ohio State. Penn State, or both?
posted by cixelsyd at 03:45 PM on February 01, 2012
Yeah, "institutional control" and "ethics" are words that really shouldn't be used when talking about big-time division 1 football. Many just haven't had their transgressions uncovered.
Ohio State didn't suffer long after their high-profile problems, and Southern Cal is coming back strong. Penn State will start coming back strong after a couple down years.
posted by dyams at 04:28 PM on February 01, 2012
It will just take time. Can't imagine PSU not knowing this recruit mess was going to happen this year given the Sandusky scandal and loss of Paterno.
If O'Brien proves to be a credible PSU coach after a couple of seasons, the PSU recruitment ship will start to right itself. And during that time, the Sandusky scandal will become old news as it winds through the courts.
posted by roberts at 05:46 PM on February 01, 2012
This doesn't surprise me at all. It's going to be a rough few years for the program, NCAA sanctions aside. It's going to be even tougher for them once the NCAA hits them with a whole raft of penalties.