OConnor not rushing decision
Joey O'Connor said he's back to square one in recruiting and with so many new programs getting involved the Windsor, Colo., four-star offensive tackle is going to take his time and not make a quick decision.
O'Connor, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound recruit, had been committed to Penn State but decided to back out of that pledge amid its ongoing scandal. While the Nittany Lions aren't completely out of it he said other programs are definitely going to get a look as well.
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"It was definitely a shock at first and now it's kind of a disappointment," O'Connor said of the situation at Penn State.
"The first thought that goes through my mind is that my heart goes out to those victims and their families. It is devastating but everything happens for a reason and I'm going to work through it and see what happens.
"They're still in it. Everything is at an equal playing field now and it's a 0-0 ballgame right now."
Since making the decision to back away from his pledge, O'Connor said numerous schools have shown increased interest including TCU, Boise State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Purdue and many others.
It has been such a whirlwind that O'Connor has decided to focus on finishing out his senior season and only then will he start concentrating on setting up other official visits.
"Things are starting to open up and I've been getting calls from different coaches," O'Connor said. "I've been in contact with the TCU coaches and a lot of different coaches and the same coaches who were recruiting me before.
"Like I told all the coaches I'm concentrating on my senior season, I'm going to focus on that, and then figure things out where I want to take my four official visits and go from there.
"Right now I have no idea about visits because there are new schools coming in every day. There were 16 schools and now it's 18 schools and every day it's a new school. I'm just taking it all in and starting to figure out where, maybe, I want to visit."
Rivals.com rates O'Connor as the No. 27 offensive tackle and No. 238 prospect in the 2012 class. He's fourth in the Colorado state rankings.