Penn State Recruiting: TE Adam Breneman says "I like Penn State a lot"

It was a big weekend for Penn State, with the annual dance marathon raising a record total of $10.68 million to support families of children with cancer. But as far as football was concerned, the importance of the weekend remained on recruiting.

Penn State held their junior day over the weekend, and a number of top players on the recruiting board made the visit, including the nation's top tight end prospect Adam Breneman. Breneman is not only one of the top tight ends in the country, and he is the nation's 22nd-ranked player overall according to Rivals.com. In case you didn't already know, Breneman is also a Pennsylvania native, from Camp Hill. Penn State is recruiting him as strongly as possible in hopes of locking him in for the Class of 2013.

Breneman and his family were asked to make the trip to Penn State a day early for junior day so Bill O'Brien and his staff could welcome Breneman and have more personal time with the top target in the next recruiting class.

"It was a great trip," Breneman said. "I really got to spend a lot of the time with Coach O'Brien, I got to know him really well. I've already seen all the facilities, I've seen the campus, the academic side of everything, so this was really a chance to get to know all the coaches."

Under O'Brien's coaching philosophy it is expected that the tight end position ill be key. For now, luring in one of the top tight ends in the country would figure to be a top priority regardless of where he is from, but securing one of the top players in Pennsylvania will continue to be an emphasis for O'Brien. When O'Brien took over the head-coaching job he said how important it was for Penn State to start winning back top in-state recruits. Fortunately for O'Brien, Breneman seems to be leaning toward Penn State.

"I don't think it's a secret that I like Penn State a lot," Breneman told Rivals.com. "I don't have a list of top schools or anything, I still have a lot to think about. I was very impressed with Coach O'Brien though, seeing how I'm going to be used in his offense. Honestly, he got me real excited when we were talking about tight ends and how he wants to use them, but I'm definitely not ready to make a decision or anything like that yet."

Penn State also made a push for defensive end Jonathan Allen (Ashburn, Virginia), who told Rivals.com Recruiting Analyst Mike Farrell he came away impressed for a number of reasons.

"I really enjoyed it, I actually liked it a lot better than I thought I would," said the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder. "I thought I'd like it but not as much. I went up there with my friend and teammate Ryan Burns and we both had a good time." Defensive line coach Larry Johnson is recruiting Allen, and new head coach Bill O'Brien left Allen with a solid first impression.

"Coach O'Brien tells it like it is and he relates well to the players," Allen said following his visit. "What you see is what you get with him. I came away with a good feeling about the direction they are taking the program."

The good news for Penn State is even though Virginia and Virginia Tech are recruiting Allen heavily to keep him in state, he is not opposed to leaving the state and he may be looking to leave the state with a number of top-notch programs recruiting him such as Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida and Michigan. Penn State clearly has their work cut out for them if they want to reel in Allen. Will he be the next major recruiting victory for Larry Johnson Sr.?

Philadelphia running back David Williams, of West Catholic, attended the junior day event and received an offer the following day.

"I think it's great for me to have the opportunity to have the chance to play for my state college," said Williams. Williams is a four-star running back according to Rivals.com and is being recruited heavily by a number of big time programs and holding offers from Big Ten rivals Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Notre Dame, Temple, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Tennessee are among others who have extended offers. If Penn State were to land Williams it would be a significant recruiting victory.

Another in-state player to receive an offer was linebacker Alex Anzalone (Wyomissing, Pa). Anzalone said he was impressed with Penn State's coaching staff and facilities, and said the same things about Rutgers, which he visited the next day. The four-star linebacker holds a number of offers already, including Big Ten foes Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Purdue as well as national powers Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, South Carolina and West Virginia. Temple and Rutgers have also extended an offer.

"Even though location isn't the biggest factor in my decision, it was definitely cool to meet the coaches and to see the facilities," said Anzalone.

Linebacker Jake Plonski (Erie, PA) expects to receive an offer in March or April when assistant coach Stan Hixon visits his school.

"I talked to my recruiter, which is Coach Stan Hixon, and he said that he was going to come to my school in I believe March or April," said Plonski. "That's when I think I will hopefully receive an offer."

An offer was not handed to a number of players on junior day, but some remain hopeful that an offer is not far away. Defensive lineman Chasz Wright of Woodbridge, Virginia seems optimistic that the coaching staff will have an offer for him soon, saying "They did not offer, but they said that they look forward to seeing me again soon."

"I don't have a favorite yet but compared to the unofficial visits I've taken they are number one right now over Maryland, Duke and UCLA," said Milan Collins (Forestville, Maryland). "I saw some great things. I really liked the academics and [defensive backs] coach [John] Butler." Penn State has made an effort to go after versatile athletes under Bill O'Brien's new leadership, and Collins is one of the latest, although he says Penn State wants him to play defensive back.

"They are recruiting me as a defensive back but I'll play any position that will get me on the field," he said. "If that means playing defensive back, I'll play defensive back. If I have to play wide receiver, I'll play wide receiver. If they need me at quarterback, I'll play that too." Collins currently has offers from Rutgers, Syracuse, Massachusetts, East Carolina and Buffalo.

The junior day event also saw some players that may be under the radar, like Oradell, New Jersey wide receiver John Tsimis. Following a decent junior season with Bergen Catholic Tsimis is hoping to draw more attention to himself from potential schools. Penn State is one of them, and Tsimis came away from junior day with a good feeling about the program.

Quotes provided by Rivals.com:

Kevin McGuire is a national college football writer for Examiner.com and the host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast. He can be reached at cfbexaminer@gmail.com.