ESPN Midwest recruiting Blog

Posted by Bill Kurelic

The last few years, Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions' coaching staff has recruited well -- but not spectacularly -- especially by Penn State standards.

Things appear to be changing in State College.

When offensive lineman Luke Graham (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) committed to Penn State on Monday afternoon he became PSU commitment No. 5, and the third player to commit in the past week.

The big week began with wide receiver Adrian Coxson (Baltimore, Md./City College) announcing a commitment to Penn State shortly after attending the Blue-White spring game. Running back Silas Redd (Stamford, Conn./ The King & Low Heywood Thomas) announced on Sunday morning that he too had selected Penn State.

Those three joined linebacker Mike Hull (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and quarterback P.J. Jones (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox), who had previously committed to Penn State.

A strong case can be made for Paterno's group of five prospects being the Big Ten's top recruiting class at this early point. Coxson and Redd are ESPNU 150 members, and Hull, Jones and Graham are three of the top-10 prospects in the state of Pennsylvania.

Paterno has not done a great job of keeping the top prospects from the state of Pennsylvania from heading elsewhere in recent years. However, this season the legendary Nittany Lion boss seems well on his way towards a very strong in-state recruiting year.

Not only has Paterno landed Hull, Jones and Graham, but he seems to have a good shot at landing wide receiver Alex Kenney (State College, Pa.) and defensive end/linebacker Dakota Royer (Manheim, Pa./Central).

Paterno also appears to have as good a shot as anyone at landing defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington). Floyd, Royer and Kenney are all ESPNU 150 members.

Penn State is on Under Armour All-American running back Corey Brown's (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) list and the same goes for quarterback Anthony Gonzalez (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty).

At the Nike Football Training Camp in State College on Saturday, linebacker Khairi Fortt (Stamford, Conn.) revealed that Penn State is the No. 1 school on his official visit list. There are a host of other top out-of-state prospects who are interested in Penn State as well.

It all adds up to a banner recruiting year for Paterno and his staff. It is still a long way to national signing day, but early returns indicate a rosy recruiting outlook for the Nittany Lions' 2010 recruiting class.