Penn State Football: Maryland Defensive Back Recruit Kirk Garner Still On Nittany Lions’ List

Despite receiving a verbal commitment from Ohio four-star defensive back Ross Douglas last month, Penn State still is high on Kirk Garner.

Garner, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound defensive back from Our Lady Good Counsel in Olney, Md., has had the Nittany Lions ranked among his list of possible schools since receiving a scholarship offer from first-year coach Bill O’Brien’s staff in February.

“I am loving the process so far,” Garner said. “It’s just a blessing to have these options to further myself academically and physically on the football field after high school.”

In addition to Penn State, Garner also holds scholarship offers from several other major college programs, including Maryland, Boston College, Florida State, Auburn, West Virginia, Purdue, Nebraska and South Carolina.

Garner is rated a four-star recruit by Scout.com and the 17th-best defensive back in the country.

“I’m just taking the process slow as of now and looking at all my options,’ he said.

Garner currently plays alongside defensive back Kendall Fuller, who is rated the fourth-best overall prospect in the nation by Yahoo.com, but he does not hold a scholarship offer from Penn State.

Currently, Garner is one of five defensive back prospects with an offer to join the Nittany Lions in 2013. Others include Darian Hicks (6-0, 175) from Solon High School in Solon, Ohio; Devin Butler (6-1, 170) from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., Reon Dawson (6-2, 175) from Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, Ohio, and Vernon Hargreaves (5-10, 177) from Wharton High School in Tampa., Fla.

Hargreaves is the most noteworthy of the group. He is rated a five-star defensive back and the No. 1 player at his position by Scout.com. He also is the most recent defensive back to have picked up a Penn State offer, receiving the call this past Monday.

Current Penn State defensive back Mike Wallace is an alumnus of Good Counsel, which has been widely regarded as one of the top high school football programs in the nation. In 2011, Penn State had nine different players on its roster that came from the state of Maryland.