Adrian Coxson was one of the first members of Penn State’s recruiting class of 2010 to commit to the Lions.  It was almost 9 months ago when the Maryland native, rated as a five star prospect and as the #8 wide receiver in the country by Scout.com–despite the fact that he played QB this season after starting his high school career as a receiver–announced his intentions to play for Joe Paterno, and it was yet another example of Larry Johnson snagging the best talent from that state.  However, over the past few months, rumors have swirled around Coxson’s future; namely, that it would not be at Penn State.

The lack of interest didn’t seem to be coming from Coxson, who, throughout the recruiting process, continued to assert his commitment to Penn State. However, and information is admittedly second-and-third hand here, it was members of the recruiting staff, especially Mike McQueary, who were not enamored with Coxson.  While I’m not a connected source to either side of the story, Coxson’s grades seem to have never been an issue, and though a high schooler’s character is notoriously difficult to ascertain from a handful of articles, it doesn’t seem as though there are any glaring issues.

I will repeat once again that I’m not sure what exactly happened, or why, the premium services of both Scout and Rivals today reported that Adrian Coxson was told by Penn State staff that there is no longer room in this recruiting class for him.  The best (free) information source dates back a couple months, though it comes from FightOnState’s Cory James, and is emblematic of the curious nature of this recruitment:

1.  Coxson has not mentioned one word to his friends that are committed to Penn State about going elsewhere. (Not surprising, how do you tell your friends that you aren’t coming to PSU with them anymore because of these circumstances?)  2. Penn State has told Coxson that there is no room for him and they are still hoping he goes elsewhere.  My take on that is that Penn State will not pull his scholarship offer, but the chances of them holding onto a 5 star WR who they told they don’t have a need for is pretty slim.  Hence the “looking for a school” information that has been floating around.  Right or wrong, that is what is happening right now and it has been that way since August…..I can’t imagine things change by February.

I have no idea why the staff would suddenly cool on such a can’t miss prospect as Coxson, even with plenty of depth at the wide receiver position, and I somehow doubt I ever will. If and when the full story comes out, we’ll be on it like white on rice, but until then, I’m passing along what I know, and what you should.  Is there something that the staff knows about Coxson that we don’t? Quite possibly.  I have trouble believing that it’s a simple as “not enough room.”  Maybe they don’t think he’s that good, and not deserving of a scholarship.  But everyone who’s seen him play has been impressed by Coxson, and it’s generally not the Penn State way to retract an offer based on something like that.

After Dominique Easley left for Florida, Sharrif Floyd went elsewhere (also Florida) and with the destinations of Marcus Lattimore and Mike Thornton very much up in the air, I can’t imagine that we suddenly didn’t have room for a player of Coxson’s caliber, even if wide receivers Alex Kenney and Levi Norwood are also committed to Penn State.  I just really hope Coxson doesn’t go to Florida, even if this one wouldn’t qualify as poaching a commit.  They’re just starting to annoy me.

Update: I just got off the phone with a source highly connected to Penn State athletics, and he told me that he had spoken with an individual on the Penn State football staff–who is involved with scouting high school talent–in the past month regarding some of our prospects for this recruiting class.  On Coxson, my source tells me that the staff member said, and I quote “He’s just not good enough,” and that this staff member hopes another school will offer him a scholarship.  Though Coxson committed last spring, by last summer, the staff advised him to start looking elsewhere, and not-so-secretly hoped he’d decommit without them having to give him the boot.  Apparently, the Penn State coaching staff sees something different in Coxson than do other staffs and the recruiting services. This was not about grades or character or anything of that nature, but simply about his skill and projected performance at the next level.

My source also told me that Penn State feels that they are right in the thick of things for both Marcus Lattimore and Mike Thornton–the staff had actually hoped that Thornton would’ve committed already based on some comments he had made during his official visit, but the staff feels they have as good a chance as any other school for Thornton.  As for Lattimore, I’m told that Marcus is a Penn State kind of kid, and personally loves Penn State, and while all the other schools have their benefits as well, that Joe Paterno’s home visit later this month may well seal things.

As for Floyd, my source tells me what we’ve all suspected for a long time–that Sharrif Floyd was “all about Sharrif Floyd.”  He was looking to go to a school that would him get to the NFL, education be damned, and that there were plenty of outside influences that pushed him to Florida as opposed to Ohio State.  According to my source, the coaching staff wasn’t losing any sleep about Floyd, because they felt the bad might outweigh the positives.

I was told that Dominique Easley was something of a free spirit, and when he came to Penn State on his visit, he figured out that he wouldn’t have the run of the place, that the tight ship that Joe Paterno runs would’ve held him back from living it up.  According to my source, Oregon would’ve been a good place for Easley to go, and Dominique was ready to go to Oregon, but when Florida entered the mix late and he’d always had his heart set on Florida, it was an easy decision.