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The recruiting game: WVW’s Bleich, other top prospects face heavy pressure

<p>The Q&amp;A session had begun. It didn&#8217;t take long for someone from the crowd to ask James Franklin about recruiting &#8212; specifically how the Penn State football coach handles decommitments.</p><p>Franklin grinned.</p><p>&#8220;Interesting that I&#8217;m getting this question in Harrisburg,&#8221; Franklin said during this past spring&#8217;s Coaches Caravan event, which tours the Northeast interacting with fans and media.</p><p>After a beat, the crowd at Penn State Harrisburg laughed. The area is home to one of the nation&#8217;s top recruits, No. 1-ranked defensive end Micah Parsons of Harrisburg High School. And he had just decommitted from the Nittany Lions after more than a year of being in the fold.</p><p>NCAA rules prohibit Franklin from mentioning Parsons &#8212; or any recruit &#8212; publicly by name until they sign a letter of intent with a school. In this case, the implication was clear.</p><p>Franklin and the Lions entered August with the nation&#8217;s No. 3 recruiting class for 2018 according to the 247Sports Composite, which factors in rankings from four major recruiting services. But Penn State&#8217;s class would be rated No. 1 if not for three decommitments along the way: Parsons, quarterback Justin Fields from Kennesaw, Ga., and offensive lineman Chris Bleich from Wyoming Valley West High School.</p><p>Fields is ranked as the No. 1 player in the nation by 247Sports.</p><p>In the aftermath, all three said they had given their non-binding verbal commitments too quickly and wanted to check out other schools.</p><p>That&#8217;s an issue for Penn State&#8217;s coaching staff, which stresses to recruits to only pledge to the Lions if they&#8217;re finished taking their visits.</p><p>&#8220;So when you tell me you&#8217;re coming,&#8221; Franklin said, &#8220;I&#8217;m gonna stand up. And we&#8217;re gonna shake hands. And we&#8217;re gonna hug. And at that point? We&#8217;re engaged. And there&#8217;s no more dating. There&#8217;s no more flirting. And then come signing day, we&#8217;re gonna get married. And once we get married, there&#8217;s no divorce. You&#8217;re stuck with me for the next 50 years.&#8221; </p><p>According to Franklin, that&#8217;s not a new approach for the program. Penn State&#8217;s surprising run to a Big Ten championship and the Rose Bowl last season hasn&#8217;t led to a change in any rules for Lions recruits.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s status quo for them,&#8221; said Steve Wiltfong, national recruiting director for 247Sports.</p><p>One thing that does change with Penn State&#8217;s rising stature is the level of competition to hold on to top recruits.</p><p>Parsons has taken multiple visits to Ohio State this year, and Fields is gravitating toward schools that are closer to home, such as Florida State and Georgia.</p><p>When the Lions signed Miles Sanders, rated by some services as the country&#8217;s top running back in the 2016 recruiting class, it was a nail-biter.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t ever stop recruiting them,&#8221; Penn State assistant coach Josh Gattis, who also serves as recruiting coordinator, said on signing day in February. &#8220;Those guys receive phone calls from everyone in the country. &#8230; And we&#8217;re talking about up until midnight, still receiving calls from other head coaches across the country.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s all just part of recruiting, particularly for the top programs in the NCAA.</p><p>Perennial power Alabama finished with the No. 1 recruiting class for 2017, but even the Crimson Tide had nine players decommit during the process, including four ranked in the top 100 overall.</p><p>Franklin said the key to keeping that number to a minimum is to actually dissuade recruits when they first try to commit so they take some more time to consider the situation.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t ever pressure kids into committing,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Because I think that&#8217;s where you (get) yourself into problems. Because maybe they&#8217;re not completely ready. So generally, when a recruit calls me or is there in person and they say, &#8216;Coach, I want to commit,&#8217; I say, &#8216;Well, hold on a second. Hold on a second. Make sure you know what you&#8217;re saying.&#8217;</p><p>&#8220;&#8230; Sometimes guys make decisions and then other coaches are in their ear, telling them what they want to hear. I don&#8217;t do that. I tell them the truth. So just stay patient, stay positive with all these kids, because it&#8217;s not over until signing day.&#8221;<hr/></p><p><ins>Below is Penn State&#8217;s updated recruiting map, which can be expanded by clicking on the full-screen icon in the upper right corner of the frame.</ins></p><p><ins>All recruit rankings and offers represent the 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of prospects from the sites 247Sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN.</ins></p><p><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1OK4PYS981ubWAlp8ivpPXYkhWzw" height="550" width="100%"></iframe></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State and Coach James Franklin have the country&#8217;s No. 3 recruiting class for 2018, but they also have dealt with some high-profile decommitments. (Aimee Dilger | Times Leader) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL051017PennState5-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State and Coach James Franklin have the country&#8217;s No. 3 recruiting class for 2018, but they also have dealt with some high-profile decommitments. (Aimee Dilger | Times Leader) </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>&#8220;So when you tell me you&#8217;re coming, I&#8217;m gonna stand up. And we&#8217;re gonna shake hands. And we&#8217;re gonna hug. And at that point? We&#8217;re engaged. And there&#8217;s no more dating. There&#8217;s no more flirting. And then come signing day, we&#8217;re gonna get married. And once we get married, there&#8217;s no divorce. You&#8217;re stuck with me for the next 50 years.&#8221;</p><p>&#8212; Penn State football coach James Franklin, about recruiting</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Decommitments part of the challenge in college football recruiting