Penn State landed its sixth recruit for the Class of 2009 when Derrick Thomas, a 6-foot, 180-pound athlete from Greenbelt, Md., committed to the Nittany Lions Sunday.

Thomas became the third high school senior-to-be to commit this past weekend after attending the Nike Camp in State College. Cornerback Darrell Givens and safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong gave the Lions their pledges on Saturday.

A two-way star at Eleanor Roosevelt High, Thomas played cornerback and wide receiver as a junior. His teammate and classmate, cornerback Stephon Morris, is also mulling over a scholarship offer from Penn State. Current Penn State wide receiver Derrick Williams is a product of Eleanor Roosevelt.

"Derrick was somebody we looked up to coming from the eighth grade into ninth grade," Thomas said at the Bigtime Football Showcase held at Rutgers on Thursday. "When he went to Penn State that had an effect on me."

Another factor was Lions assistant coach Larry Johnson, Thomas' recruiter. Johnson has developed into one of the Lions' top salesmen.

"I can talk to him about a lot of things," Thomas said Thursday. "He's a really good guy."