Highly-touted quarterback Christian Hackenberg officially signs letter of intent to join Penn State

The signature name in Bill O'Brien's 2013 Penn State football recruiting class is officially on board.

Christian Hackenberg, a 6-foot-4 quarterback from Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy, put pen to paper on his National Letter of Intent early Wednesday morning.

Penn State will make Hackenberg's commitment official when the faxed letter arrives in State College.

As Joe Juliano writes in Wednesday's Inquirer, Hackenberg is just part of a strong recruiting class assembled by O'Brien. The high number of four-star recruits is especially impressive given the sanctions currently hanging over the Nittany Lions program. Tim Gilbert of the Daily News spoke with some national recruiting analysts who were surprised by the strength of the group.

Hackenberg and 16 other players comprise the Nittany Lions' 2013 recruting class. The full list is below.

Richy Anderson: Running back, 5' 11"/171 pounds (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson H.S.)

Brandon Bell: Linebacker, 5' 11"/222 pounds (Mays Landing, N.J. (Oakcrest H.S.)

Adam Breneman: Tight end, 6' 4"/230 pounds (Camp Hill, Pa./Cliff H.S.)

Curtis Cothran: Defensive end, 6' 5"/235 pounds (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock H.S. North)

Parker Cothren: Defensive tackle, 6' 5"/265 pounds (Hazel Green, Ala./Hazel Green H.S.)

Tyler Ferguson: Quarterback, 6' 5"/199 pounds (Bakersfield, Calif./College of the Sequoias)

Kasey Gaines: Defensive back, 5' 10"/160 pounds (Loganville, Ga./Grayson H.S.)

Christian Hackenberg: Quarterback, 6' 3"/215 pounds (Palmyra, Va./Fork Union Military Academy)

DaeSean Hamilton: Wide receiver, 6' 1"/182 pounds (Fredericksburg, Va./Mountain View H.S.)

Tanner Hartman: Guard, 6' 5"/255 pounds (Lynchburg, Va./Lynchburg Christian Academy)

Zayd Issah: Linebacker, 6' 3"/215 pounds (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin Senior H.S.)

Brendan Mahon: Guard, 6' 5"/315 pounds (Randolph, N.J./Randolph H.S.)

Andrew Nelson: Offensive tackle, 6' 5"/295 pounds (Hershey, Pa./Hershey H.S.)

Neiko Robinson: Defensive back, 5' 11"/170 pounds (Flomaton, Ala./Northview HS)

Garrett Sickels: Defensive end, 6' 4"/238 pounds (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank Regional H.S.)

Anthony Smith: Defensive back, 6' 0"/184 pounds (Randolph, N.J./Valley Forge Military Academy)

Jordan Smith: Defensive back, 5' 11"/178 pounds (Washington, D.C./H.D. Woodson H.S.)

You can get complete coverage of National Signing Day across the Philadelphia region in our special section.