2012 Recruiting Ranks

From Scout.com, here are the preliminary team rankings for the Big Ten . . .

Rank	School	Commits	Points	Top 100	5*	4*	3*	Off	Def	SpT	HS	JC	Avg
3	Ohio State	25	4599	7	4	11	10	12	13	0	25	0	3.76
4	THEM	25	4407	6	1	14	10	11	14	0	25	0	3.64
35	Michigan State	18	2294	2	0	4	13	11	7	0	18	0	3.17
40	Iowa	24	2167	0	0	3	12	12	11	1	22	2	2.75
48	Northwestern	21	2011	1	0	2	12	11	9	1	21	0	2.76
49	Penn State	19	1959	1	0	1	16	10	9	0	19	0	2.95
50	Nebraska	17	1916	0	0	3	11	7	10	0	15	2	3.00
51	Purdue	25	1841	0	0	1	13	18	5	2	23	2	2.60
52	Indiana	25	1786	0	0	0	15	12	13	0	18	7	2.60
62	Wisconsin	12	1563	1	0	5	4	7	5	0	12	0	3.17
67	Illinois	18	1384	0	0	0	12	9	8	1	18	0	2.67
68	Minnesota	27	1351	0	0	0	9	14	13	0	21	6	2.33

Texas leads at #1 with 28 recruits and Alabama is 2nd with 26 recruits.

If you take THEM and Ohio State out of the equation, Penn State is pretty competitive with the rest of the conference.  We also have only 19 recruits which may hurt the overall ranking--see Wisconsin with only 12!  Indiana and Minnesota are relying on Junior College kids.

If you look at conference rankings, the Big Ten is fourth behind the SEC, PAC-12, and Big 12.

I'm not a big recruitnik . . . I don't really believe or put much faith in the star system (it's kind of like reading the horoscopes in my opinion).  Rather, I put my faith in the coaches to find kids that will fit into their system and perform well on and off the field.  Any given player could exceed well at a particular school, but struggle or sit on the bench at another.  Some are over-hyped, and some are diamonds in the rough.  Poz was only a 3 star recruit if I recall correctly.

I'd rather have kids that WANT TO PLAY FOR PENN STATE and buy into the Penn State way.  I want kids who will graduate as well as win games.  I don't want to deal with prima donnas who are always looking to jump ahead to the NFL if they get the chance.  I'd rather watch a bunch of 3 stars play their hearts out than a bunch of five stars whining on the sideline about their playing time and whether they have their name on the back of their jersey.

Joe Paterno, for all his faults and the frustrations we fans felt during games we thought we should win, was able to find those special student athletes for the most part.  The returning lettermen and the many speeches at his memorial were a testimony of that skill he had as a coach and leader.

Will O'Brien have similar success?

Will this class exceed expectations and star charts?

Only time will tell.

To those who signed for Penn State today . . .  WELCOME! 

You are pioneers in a new era--a new millennium--of Penn State football.

We fans wish you the best of luck.