Penn State’s 2011 recruiting class has not been a particularly strong one. That’s hardly a bold statement for me to make. With 11 verbal commitments in the books, the Nittany Lion haul has been mediocre at best–rated as the #50 class in the country by Scout, and 48th in Rivals‘ team rankings.

But there is some reason to be hopeful if you’re a Penn State fan–the uncommitted status of many top prospects, a number of whom are said to be favoring Penn State. One, offensive tackle Donovan Smith, will announce his decision during this afternoon’s Army All-America Bowl, and the Maryland native is set to choose between Penn State, UCLA, and NC State, with the good guys firmly in the lead.

But Smith is just one Penn State target who’ll be playing in that game, and the other is a much more intriguing study.

When the recruiting calendar turned to 2011, defensive end Ishaq Williams was widely expected to pick Penn State, and even early in the game, it was clear that Williams would be a big get. A consensus elite prospect, Williams is the #63 player in the Rivals 100, slots in at #49 in the Scout 300, and is ranked #29 in the ESPNU 150. If he’s not the best prospect Penn State’s looked at in this class, he’s certainly in elite company.

But things have not gone as expected. Though Penn State has long been a finalist for Williams’ services, they’ve seemed to fall behind Notre Dame and Syracuse in the three-team race. In fact, though he’s visited Happy Valley a number of times, he never took an official visit to State College. And when he visited South Bend, it was widely rumored that he made a commitment to play for Brian Kelly, a rumor that’s since been debunked. Similarly, on his official visit to Syracuse, he was pelted in the head with a snowball by defensive coordinator Scott Shafer–a move that seemed to reinforce the family values Doug Marrone is preaching up there. At one point, it even was reported that Penn State had been eliminated, that Williams would choose between the Domers and the Orange.

For Williams, who has expressed a desire to enroll early at whichever school he chooses, the decision date has to be soon–and, until this afternoon, it was set to be, like Smith’s, during the Army All-America Bowl. But Williams, who has played this recruitment as tight to the chest as any recruit could, has delayed his announcement to next week, so that he has more time to weigh the pros and cons at each school. According to the South Bend Tribune, that’s because of some “uncertainty” at one of his three finalists, and because both Notre Dame and Syracuse have proven stable situations, one can only assume that he’s concerned about Tom Bradley’s potential (or imminent, depending on who you ask) departure to Pitt, or which assistants–he’s being recruited by Larry Johnson–he’d take with him.

This would seem to bode well for Penn State–were Williams to decide between Syracuse and Notre Dame, the Penn State coaching situation would hardly affect his plan to commit during the game. But delaying his announcement to next week means Williams won’t commit until Penn State has already started classes for the Spring semester–neither Notre Dame nor Syracuse begin until the 18th, while Penn State students have their first day of classes this Monday.

Further complicating things is Williams’ prominent listing in Penn State’s student directory. Until recently, Williams was listed only as a “member” of the Penn State Portal, as are a number of prospective students, but it’s become clear that he’s enrolled at the University, which lists not only his name and gives him an email address in the Penn State system, but also presents his home address and prospective major–undecided. It’s in the same format as Anthony Alosi’s, a Penn State commit who’s also set to enroll early. One wonders whether Penn State is tipping their hand or if it’s an honest mistake, but I can’t imagine it’s good business to list the home address of a student who may not be attending the school.

Though it’s understandable that this would be a precautionary measure, especially with his late announcement as compared to enroll dates, he’s not listed in the student directories at Syracuse or Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, other commits who will be early enrollees–like safety Chris Badger–are in the system already, and at Syracuse, it doesn’t appear there’s a reference point–no players are set to enroll early at Cuse.

So what does this all mean? Not much, to be entirely honest, though the delayed commitment date–after the spring semester at Penn State will have started–shouldn’t be too much of a discouragement to Nittany Lions fans. It’s almost standard operating procedure to fit recruits in after the first week, and as any Penn State student will tell you, you’re not missing much if you’re not around for Syllabus Week. I’m not in the prognosticating game, and even if I was, I’d have nothing to add on Penn State’s potentiality to nab Williams.  But this certainly adds yet another layer of intrigue to the Tom Bradley-to-Pitt rumors, and is a developing storyline for Penn State fans to watch over the coming week.