by Mark Harrington
Take a moment and think back to this time last year. There was a buzz in the air with the Class of 2008 that they were going to be a unique, special class. Not so much because of their talent, sure you had national 'blue chips' in the class like Dan Connor, Greg Harrison and at the last minute, Anthony Morelli, but more because of the comradery and maturity of the young men. Greg committed in April and immediately stepped up to help recruit players with his future teammates like Dan Connor, Wyatt Bowman and Mark Rubin. Well, we may have thought that this was a rare class, but it seems that the Class of 2009 is picking up where the Class of 2008 left off and is using a similar style and approach to attract talent.
Back in November 2003 we profiled Greg Harrison. What resonated from the article most was his focus and determination to play a role in his future on the football field by helping to surround himself with players who had talent, determination and the right attitude. Here is what we wrote about Greg back then:
"Greg, who is as outgoing and energetic as anyone you could ever meet, helped to convince Tyrell 
Sales, Dan Conner, A.Q. Shipley and Gerald Cadogan, among others, that Penn State was the right choice for them. He has proactively reached out to prospects to help build up the Class of 2008 with talent and character among its members.
Greg simply has used his outgoing personality to befriend other prospects and show them why Penn State is the choice for them. His enthusiasm is said by those around him to be contagious. Couple this with his talent as an offensive lineman and you are looking at one impressive young man."
Couple his efforts with the similar efforts of his teammates and this class began to take on a sort of legendary status within Nittany Nation recruiting circles. Never had it been so clear that recruits were taking their destinies into their own hands and playing the role of pseudo-recruiting coordinators by reaching out to prospects and befriending them, thus showing the undecided players what they would be part of at Penn State in coming years. That it was more about sacks and snaps it was about friendship and family.
The recruiting efforts for Dan continue as recruits come to visit Penn State and want to talk to him about his experiences as an All-American freshman in Happy Valley. He recently talked about his 'recruiting style' with incoming prospects, explained, "Everyone's 
worried about that when you come to a college. Basically we told them everyone's an honest guy, a great guy. All the coaches and players are positive we're ready to turn things around. We just need key players, like a couple incoming guys right now to turn things around and I think it's going to happen."
Frankly, it was an impressive thing to see last year and culminated in the meeting of the entire class (which Playbook termed the Group Huddle) during the weekend of December 5, 2003. This was simply an opportunity for the players to spend a few days together, meet with the coaches and veteran players and plan for the future. It was yet another Penn State trailblazing recruiting innovation to go along with football camps, early committments and early enrollees, among others.
It seems almost uncanny that we would be seeing this again with the subsequent recruiting class, but we are. This time the prospect playing the role of orchestrator of the recruiting efforts seems to be primarily Justin King, who like Greg Harrison has apparently taken the approach of attracting talent simply by befriending it. It is a genuine approach that seems to pay dividends.
Justin (left, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) has played a role in attracting players like Sean Lee, who plays at Upper St. Clair, which is neigbors with Justin's high school, Gateway in Pittsburgh and Lydell Sargeant who went to Gateway during his freshman year prior to moving west to California.
Justin has also reportedly developed a relationship with Derrick Williams, who committed to PSU yesterday. As Derrick announced his decision to become a Nittany Lion yesterday on ESPNews he revealed that secret component that has sung to so many recruits - family. He also pointed to the loyalty, trustworthiness, honesty and character of the program and coaches and specifically Joe Paterno, saying, "He really showed how he cared for me."
The recruiting efforts of the Class of 2009 don't appear to be over yet. 
Derrick (left, Washington Infomer) himself alluded to working his own magic to attract prospects to suit up in Blue and White with him in coming years, saying, "I want all the top recruits in the country to come to Penn State and help me win a national championship." For example, he attended the Elite College Combine at Giants Stadium with PSU verbal Dennis Landolt and PSU prospects Nyan Boateng, Melvin Alaeze and Brian Cushing. Perhaps we will see more relationship dividends paying off in the future.
With the Class of 2008 many fans equated the maturity, initiative and leadership of the class as a function of a few players. Perhaps now that we are again seeing it with the Class of 2009 it is more a function of the character qualities Penn State pursues when recruiting.
Either way, it is an invaluable asset to the Nittany Lions.
