Blue White Illustrated

March 2023

Penn State Sports Magazine

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1492675

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 54 of 75

M A R C H 2 0 2 3 5 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State hosted its final junior day on Jan. 28, just before the start of the Feb- ruary dead period. Between that event and the two previous ju- nior days on Jan. 14 and 21, the Nittany Lions hosted just over 60 scholarship prospects, two dozen of whom visited in the fi- nal days of the month. One of the Lions' most im- portant visitors came to cam- pus a few days prior to that fi- nal junior day, with Baltimore quarterback Michael Van Bu- ren returning to Penn State on Jan. 26. Van Buren, a four-star prospect according to On3, has made four visits Penn State, more than he's taken to any other school. His prior trips came in Janu- ary, March and October of last year. The spring visit, which took place March 26, included a handful of additional play- ers from his school, St. Frances Academy. The October visit was similar, with he and multiple teammates watching the game against Ohio State on Oct. 29. Because he was with a group on those previous trips, Van Buren had yet to spend a personal day with the staff. By electing to come up on a Thursday in- stead of during junior day, he was able to have a visit that was customized com- pletely around him. In addition to meet- ing with James Franklin, he had an op- portunity to talk about schematics with offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and analyst Danny O'Brien. "I pretty much got to see everything and go in-depth with everything, from academics to strength and conditioning to nutrition, the scheme and everything else," Van Buren said. "A couple high- lights were just being able to talk ball with Coach Yurcich and Coach O'Brien and really going over how they develop their quarterbacks." Van Buren said he was impressed with how energized the coaches were throughout his visit. "What stands out about Coach Yur- cich is the passion he has in really de- veloping players and how explosive his offensive scheme is," Van Buren said. "With Coach Franklin, his energy is al- ways high, and he really cares about the program being family-oriented and his players maximizing their oppor- tunities on and off the field." Van Buren has also traveled to Oregon twice since the fall, which is why most believe that the Nit- tany Lions and Ducks are the early favorites. According to On3, he's ranked No. 202 nationally and is the 14th-ranked quarterback in the 2024 cycle. For junior day, Penn State hosted top prospects from nine states. That list included two im- portant defensive ends in Dylan Stephenson of Miami and Jaylen Harvey of Potomac, Md. Harvey, who stands 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, has been on campus five times since last summer. The Quince Orchard High edge rusher is believed to be leaning toward the Nittany Lions. He's ranked No. 265 nationally, No. 21 at de- fensive end and eighth overall in Maryland for his class. Stephenson, who plays for Christopher Columbus High, was visiting for the first time. "It's a real unique place, and I'm happy I was able to get up there and see it for myself," Stephenson said. "I was able to watch the wrestling match [against Iowa] on Friday night, and they take it very seriously up there. I'd say that was one of the highlights, seeing the entire community gather to support [the wrestlers]. "Outside of that, it was your standard junior day tours, pictures and meetings. I shook some hands and started to build re- lationships. Beaver Stadium would prob- ably be the highlight of the day. It was re- ally cool. Any time you can get on the field at such a great venue and envision yourself there, that always gets me excited." Stephenson, a 6-4, 225-pounder who NITTANY LIONS MAKE THEIR CASE IN JANUARY R Y A N S N Y D E R | R Y A N . S N Y D E R @ O N 3 . C O M FOOTBALL RECRUITING Four-star quarterback Michael Van Buren of Baltimore has made four visits to Penn State, the most recent coming in late January. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue White Illustrated - March 2023