Ryan Snyder of Blue White Illustrated has reported that Fairfax, Virginia athlete Nick Scott has verbally committed to Penn State.
Scott marks the second recruit for the 2014 class under Bill O’Brien, a time in which the second year head coach will only be allowed to hand out 15 football scholarships as per the NCAA sanctions handed down last July. DeMatha High School running back Mark Allen committed to the Nittany Lions last October.
The 5-foot-11, 180 pound prospect had received offers from Boston College and Penn State according to Rivals.com. Scott had also gathered interest from the likes of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
While Penn State has been able to bring on recruiting classes of 20 or more players in the past, the 15 scholarship limit puts a premium on targeting players that O’Brien and his staff not only can trust off the field, but feel they can coach at a high level on the field.
“You really can’t miss when you can only sign 15 scholarship players,” O’Brien said during his signing day press conference earlier this month. “We feel really good about where we’re at. But, again, only time will tell. That’s when it becomes vitally important to, number one, be as thorough as you possibly can be in recruiting, as thorough as you can be within the rules of recruiting, you’ve got to do a great job of, so to speak, leaving no stone unturned.”
To work around the restrictions, Penn State has also implemented a walk-on program. Players will not be eligible for a scholarship, but are still recruited to try and earn a spot on the current roster. Over 20 high school prospects have agreed to walk-on in the coming year, although they are not bound to the university like a player who signs a National Letter of Intent in exchange for a scholarship.
“We’re only allowed to bring 105 to training camp,” O’Brien said. “Right now we have about 90 guys in the program. Then you add the 12 scholarship guys that will join us in June for the summer bridge program, you’re talking about 102 guys. We’ll try to add between 13 and 15 guys. There’s guys that may end up leaving the program, things like that. I’m talking about walk‑ons. That’s basically how we’ll handle that.”
“I don’t know right now the exact total. But it’s anywhere from 15 to 20 guys (Run-ons) that will be here when the training camp starts.”
Penn State starts spring practice in March.
