By Bill Kurelic, NN Recruiting Analyst

bkurelic@nittanynetwork.com

July 16, 2009

The Nittany Lions don’t have a tight end among their 13 verbal commitments to date, but they are working to change that.

The No. 1 tight end in Ohio, Alex Smith from West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West, plans to visit Penn State. When Smith does, he’ll have a scholarship offer from Joe Pa in his back pocket.

Smith has close to two-dozen offers including Penn State, LSU, Wisconsin, Miami, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan and Cincinnati.  Smith committed to the Bearcats during the winter and says he is still committed. But it is far from a certainty he ends up at his hometown school.

Cincinnati moved their tight ends coach, Mike Elston, to the defensive line and it is not known if they will have a tight ends coach next season.  Because of that - and Smith’s desire to make sure he made the right decision - he is looking at other schools.

Smith visited North Carolina and North Carolina State earlier this summer.  He has additional trips in the works, including one to Penn State.

“I was supposed to visit LSU on Saturday, but I can’t do that,” Smith said.  “I’ll get down there later.  I’ll get down to Miami, maybe when I am in Orlando July 23-26 for the ‘Grid-Iron Kings 7 on 7.’ 

“I want to visit Wisconsin, too.  I haven’t been to Penn State, yet.  I definitely want to visit there.”

The 6-foot-5 and 225-pound Smith caught 33 passes and had six touchdowns during his junior season.  He played tight end last season after playing wide receiver in a ‘spread’ offense his sophomore year.

When asked to name the top schools from his list of 20-plus scholarship offers, Smith said, “I like North Carolina a lot.  I like Wisconsin and Miami.  And I still have a lot of interest in LSU and Penn State.  I consider those my top ones.”

Kurelic's Comment: Smith is a viable option for the Nittany Lions' 2010 recruiting class. However, right now it appears Penn State's top 2010 tight end target is Annandale (N.J.) North Hunterdon's Kevin Haplea.