Nepotism at its Finest: Commit #11 is Levi Norwood
Maybe that’s why I’m so conflicted about this announcement. Levi Norwood is, in recruiting circles, a nobody. Especially when you compare him to Penn State’s other recruiting targets at the wide receiver position: Adrian Coxson, who’s committed already, and Kenny Stills and Alex Kenney, each of whom are highly rated by the recruiting services. Scout.com doesn’t have him evaluated yet and Rivals doesn’t even have a football recruiting page for Norwood. But hey, on the bright side, he is their 115th ranked basketball prospect from the state of Texas in the Class of 2010!
It’s not hard to find a silver lining in this equation. His brother was great, for all the reasons I outlined above, and his other brother, Gabe, was a starter on the George Mason basketball team that had that phenomenal Final Four run a few years back. And at 6-2, he’s got more size than his football-playing brother. No matter what, you know he’ll be a classy individual because he’s a Norwood. And given how the coaches have scouted the lesser prospects in recent years (see: Butler, Deon; Ogbu, Ollie; Scirrotto, Anthony), it’s tough to take them to task for extending a scholarship to young Levi at their recent prospect camp. And I sure as hell don’t fault Levi for jumping on this offer as soon as it came in.
But there’s a lot not to like, too. I’ve been saying all along that with a class this small, we can’t afford to spend a scholarship on someone who isn’t an impact player. The bus has been filling up quickly with nationally ranked prospects. There was no need to spend one on Norwood, especially with Alex Kenney in the crosshairs. Kenney, of course, is the State College product (his father teaches at PSU) who has 4 stars next to his name and offers from BC, Michigan State, and Illinois. Norwood, on the other hand, has no other offers–not even from Baylor, where his father is defensive coordinator. Sure, he’s 6-2, but he’s also 170 pounds soaking wet, and, well, look at the picture. He’ll need to put on some serious weight to avoid getting killed by Big Ten opponents. Now, with at most 7 scholarships left in this class, there’s little room for the coaches to play with, especially when you consider the big names–Khairi Fortt, Sharrif Floyd, Marcus Lattimore, and Robert Bolden who are reportedly high on Penn State. If Levi Norwood were to take a grayshirt year, in which he pays his way for a season before the scholarship kicks in, it would certainly help the cause. He’s the perfect grayshirt prospect, too, and if the staff asks him too, there’s little doubt he would. Considering the incredible depth at the wide receiver position in the Class of 2009 (at least 7 players could project to the position), I would hope he does.
Do I hope Levi Norwood continues the trend of little-known prospects making it big at Penn State? Of course. Do I expect him to? No. You can only catch lightning in a bottle so many times, and in doing so year-in, and year-out the staff is truly playing with fire. Let’s be honest, here. If Levi’s last name weren’t Norwood, he wouldn’t be a Nittany Lion commit to the Class of 2010. And that sort of nepotism is not something that our coaching staff should embrace.
This dancing monkey comes with a caveat. I sure hope Levi’s as great as his brother, but I still don’t approve this fully.
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