Jenkins to Florida
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Jenkins to Florida
As expected, stud linebacker Jelani Jenkins has chosen Florida over Penn State, according to Mike Farrell of rivals.com. The top linebacker left on the board, Jenkins is set to announce his decision at a news conference set for 10:45 a.m. Farrell's sources said that Jenkins already signed and sent his letter of intent down to Gainesville.
Most observers had the 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior headed to the Gators. The Washington Post predicted as much in this morning's paper. As did The Inquirer (wink-wink).
It would have been a nice coup for Penn State, but when Florida coach Urban Meyer swooped into Olney, Md. for some face time with Jenkins it seemed the clincher. Lions coach Joe Paterno, by the way, did not visit the 16-year-old. Jenkins was in State College the weekend before and did spend time at Paterno's house on McKee St.
There are still two potential Penn State recruits that have yet to decide. Wilmington, Del. wide receiver Justin Brown announces at 1 p.m. Massachusetts defensive back Jim Noel is expected to choose sometime today.
UPDATE: Jenkins just announced on ESPNU that it's Florida. Penn State, Notre Dame, Stanford and Southern Cal were the other finalists. He cited all the usual reasons for picking a school -- a good fit, comfort with the coaching staff, academics (huh?) -- but also added that Florida's weather played a factor. If that was the case, State College never stood a chance.
Lions have bunch of LBs already, but I was hoping to land a five-star stud like Jenkins. I think they could have moved him to safety (based on his size). Hoping to land Brown for another big receiver.— 76er- I remember when they moved Jim Kelly from QB to linebacker. "Adios," said Jim.
- Good choice.— Done
- I saw the announcement on ESPN. Jenkins read off a long list of thankyous, for which he was belittled by the ESPN anchor, Josh Elliot. Since ESPN is basically parasitic to the athlete, I should think Elliot's arrogance was a little uncalled for.— mkdelucas
- Lets get Brown and Noel for sure. Too bad about Jenkins. Good class as it stands, but, Jenkins would have been more than icing on the cake. Brown is key to get WRs for the future.— psuwelsh
Comment removed.- Jelani pick one, crew cut or Florida? Florida wins.— whiterook85
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- Hey Jeff, what's with the dig at Florida academics? We have more National Merit and National Achievement Scholars than PSU. I'll put my Statistics degree up against whatever you majored in at PSU any day. Don't hate on us because we have great weather, a beautiful campus, parties like you wouldn't believe, five national championships in the past 12 years, AND quite a number of us manage to get a great education too. It's great to be a Florida Gator!!— millert
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- UF has an excellent academic reputation - FSU, not so much
- Yea Ray why would a college college kid chose the National Champions, School close to the beach, 10x hotter women. I just don't understand.— Done
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This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
