Penn State loses another high-profile high school player
Offensive tackle Dorian Johnson of Belle Vernon, Pa., a four-star recruit, has informed Penn State coach Bill O'Brien that he has withdrawn his commitment for the freshman class of 2013.
Penn State loses another high-profile high school player
Joe Juliano
Penn State has lost another of its high-profile commitments, with offensive tackle Dorian Johnson of Belle Vernon High School near Pittsburgh having informed head coach Bill O’Brien that he will look elsewhere.
The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Johnson, whom Rivals rated as a four-star recruit and No. 23 among offensive tackles in the freshman class of 2013, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review he called O’Brien on Tuesday night to inform him of his decision.
“It was a real short conversation,” Johnson said. “He didn’t really say much. He did say he respected my decision and wished me luck.”
Johnson is the fifth member of Penn State’s anticipated class of 2013 to withdraw his commitment to the school, as players weigh their options given the harsh sanctions handed down by the NCAA to the university in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Those penalties included a four-year bowl ban, scholarship reductions and a $60 million fine.
“I wasn’t expecting all that,” Johnson told the Tribune-Review about the Penn State penalties. “The top two things were the bowl ban and the scholarship offers.”
Johnson said he will reconsider Pittsburgh and Ohio State, two of his original finalists, as well as Virginia Tech, according to the newspaper.
On Monday, wide receiver and linebacker Zach Bradshaw of Damascus, Md., notified O’Brien that he was decommitting. Bradshaw later committed to Virginia.
--Joe Juliano
Any other babies want to de-commit or transfer? Please feel free! We don't want you! We only want real men who are up for the challenge and who want to play for their teammates, the school, and the fans! Any other babies like Silas Redd are more than welcome to leave...in fact, please do!— flyers1313- gotta love the psu alum and zombies still holding on to their football over everything else. The justice in all of this is ANYONE graduating from that place, past and present, will now have that stigma on their resume. Awesome. They deserve it. Employers will just be tossing their resumes aside, as they should.— thingfish
- WTF is wrong with you,thingfish? Seriously,dude....defaf.— red rock
- Poor thingfish. He's just mad because his resume is a blank piece of paper.— Penfold18
penn state football team should all put the SAME NAME ON THEIR JERSIES !! ..yup, any wild guesses >>>>>> " SANDUSKY "— daveH- thingish i right!! all penn state draters should DYE THEIR HAIR WHITE— daveH
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.
