QB Christian Hackenberg of Fork Union, VA visited Penn State Saturday for a close up look at Bill O’Brien and his new program in Happy Valley. “I liked the way Coach O’Brien set everything up and he’s got the program headed in the right direction,” Hackenberg said. He is going to Miami March 2-4 and will visit USC March 15-16. Hackenberg has been in touch with USC quarterbacks coach GA Mangus thru Facebook, and he talked to him on the phone last week. “From what he’s been telling me, I’m the only one he’s offered,” Hackenberg said. “He feels I can fit in with their offense and do what they want me to do.” Hackenberg also has offers from Tennessee, Rutgers, Virginia, Alabama, Connecticut, South Florida and Florida. There is no favorite and he plans to make his decision this summer.
LB Alex Anzalone (6-3 220) of Reading, PA has offers from USC, Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Virginia, Michigan State, Penn State, Boston College, Northwestern, Maryland, Rutgers, Syracuse, Purdue, Temple and West Virginia. He visited Penn State Saturday and Rutgers Sunday. He’s also been to Maryland, Boston College and Ohio State and will visit Virginia Saturday. He plans to take more visits for spring practices and wants to get down to USC. “It’s cool to have another offer another SEC school,” Anzalone said. “They are doing pretty good right now.” Anzalone said he has talked with USC recruiter GA Mangus. He plans a decision before his season and distance is no factor. He does not have favorites.
OL RJ Prince of Albemarle, NC Sunday committed to North Carolina. He visited Chapel Hill Saturday. Prince had been a Clemson commitment until earlier this month. But after attending the Duke at North Carolina basketball game, Prince de-committed.
Florida Saturday landed commitments from three prospects with USC and/or Clemson offers. DB Nick Washington of Jacksonville and LB Quinton Powell of Daytona Beach had offers from the Gamecocks and Tigers. And DB Keanu Neal of Bushnell, FL also had an offer from USC.
DB Keanu Neal (6-0 204) of Bushnall, FL committed to Florida Saturday during a junior day visit. He has offers from USC, Florida, Kentucky, South Florida, Central Florida, Duke, Georgia Tech and Louisville. The Gator coaches were the reason he chose Florida. “Every school has good facilities but it’s the people in those programs that make the difference,” Neal said. “I interacted well with the coaches there. They made me feel at home. Some other schools have talked about moving me to linebacker but they told me I would stay at safety and that’s where I want to play.” He has heard from USC once when the offer was made. “I spoke with Everett Sands and he offered,” he said. “He told me they would leave me at safety or move me to linebacker.” Neal says he is done with recruiting and will only visit Florida moving forward. “I am very strong in my commitment,” he added. As a junior, he totaled 111 tackles, four interceptions, four forced fumbles and six pass deflections.
OL JJ Gustafson of Dallas, TX, who has an offer from Clemson, committed to Texas A&M over the weekend. He’s the 13th commitment for the Aggies.
Basketball News:
6-6 Sheldon Jeter of Beaver Falls, PA made an official visit to USC over the weekend and enjoyed the visit so much, he nearly committed. “I was tempted to commit but I’m going to take a couple of more visits,” Jeter said. “I really liked it. The players were really cool. They showed me everything.” The Gamecocks’ on the court struggles are not a negative with Jeter who watched Saturday’s loss to LSU. “Next year I think they are going to be a (NCAA) tournament team,” said Jeter who plays both shooting guard and small forward and is averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds per game this season. Adding to the visit was Saturday phone conversations with Dwayne Wade and Courtney Lee, two players Darrin Horn recruited earlier in his career. “That went really good,” Jeter said. “They both talked about 75% of the time. They just talked about what their experiences were like.” Jeter also plans to visit Wisconsin and Penn State and is also looking at Pittsburgh and Seton Hall. His next game is Wednesday and is expecting USC recruiter Neill Berry to be in to watch.
