By Bill Kurelic, NN Recruiting Analyst

bkurelic@nittanynetwork.com

June 1, 2009

Joe Paterno and his staff are working the state of Maryland hard for their 2010 recruiting class, just as they did in 2009 when they had great success in the Terrapins’ home state.

One of their targets is Frederick (Md.) Linganore star Zach Zwinak, who visited Penn State on Thursday.

“I went out there with my dad,” Zwinak said.  “My dad had not had a chance to visit Penn State and meet the coaches, so we went there on Thursday.  It went good.  We talked to a good amount of the coaches, all of them that were there.  We talked to Joe Paterno and Larry Johnson.”

Zwinak had been to Penn State previously, including the NIKE Football Training Camp in State College on May 2.

The 6-foot-1 and 230-pound Zwinak has been a starter at both running back and linebacker since the beginning of his sophomore season.  Zwinak rushed for 435 yards and averaged over eight yards per carry that season.  He made 41 tackles including eight for loss.

Zwinak rushed for 1,447 yards, averaged 10.9 yards per carry and scored 19 times during his junior season.  He made 53 tackles including 11 for loss.  Zwinak forced seven fumbles with his hard-hitting style.

Zwinak is a powerful young man who runs well and is very athletic.  He has run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

The Nittany Lions are one of over a dozen schools to offer Zwinak a scholarship.  His list includes Maryland, West Virginia, Michigan, Stanford, Cal, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Rutgers, Cal and Stanford.  Zwinak’s list unofficially includes Ohio State and a couple others.

“From what (Linganore) coach (Rick) Conner tells me, Ohio State offered,” Zwinak said.  “He said Ohio State is going to offer me.  They stopped by awhile ago and watched tape.  I’m supposed to talk to them (today).  I’m going to call them and find out more.”

Zwinak visited Penn State during the football season, attending the Penn State-Michigan game along with offensive line teammate Robby Havenstein, whom the Nittany Lions have also offered.

Zwinak does not plan to select a college in the near future and says he has no favorites.