A happy Happy Valley

Who said Joe Paterno and Penn State was going to struggle in recruiting this season?

Ok, ok… Maybe it was Rivals100.com that raised some concerns about Paterno’s efforts early in the recruiting process with a two-part story. But with the way things are rolling for the Lions right now, those concerns and doubts are being erased.

It definitely looks like Penn State is working hard to restore the roar.

And they’re doing it with a national recruiting campaign that has picked up steam the past few weeks with commitments from all over the map.

With the addition of Brian Borgoyn today, the Lions are shooting up the recruiting rankings. Penn State is sitting just outside the top 25 at this point and will probably make an entrance once Borgoyn’s commitment is thrown into the loop tomorrow morning.

Who would have thought a top-25 class was going to happen early on in the recruiting process with Penn State struggling on the field early on?

But things are definitely happier in Happy Valley.

The Lions made a strong run for a bowl game and proved that they aren’t dead like many people said they were under Paterno. Then Paterno and his staff turned on their charm and have landed an impressive list of recruits.

Borgoyn’s pledge along with big commitments from J.R. Zwierzynski of Joliet (Ill.) Catholic, Pat Hall of Canton (Ga.) Sequoyah and Jason Alford of Orange, N.J., caps off a run that any coach in the country would be happy with.

Borgoyn is one of the nation’s top offensive linemen and his upside is amazing. Zwierzynski could be a star at either fullback or linebacker. Alford is a dominating defensive tackle that fell in love with Penn State’s campus and social life in State College.

But Hall might be the biggest steal in the bunch. Even though he’s ranked as a three-star player, Hall was making a name for himself with many college coaches down South. Georgia coaches are still disappointed they didn’t get a shot at him and it’s looking like he could be one of the best athletes in the entire Southeast by the time the smoke clears on signing day.

The Penn State class also has a nice balance with a good mixture between linemen and skill players.

Even though it’s not a top-10 class, things are definitely looking back up at Penn State. It just goes to show you that you never can write off Paterno in the clutch.