Akeel Lynch, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Stats
Home/HS: Attica, NY/St. Francis
Height: 6'
Weight: 205
Starz 'n Sheetz
Stars: 4* (247Sports), 3* (Scout, Rivals)
Offer sheet: Air Force, Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, NC State, Oklahoma, Syracuse
Cinema
The Tale
Lynch's recruitment has been quite prolonged as it relates to Penn State, but the ride is now over. Penn State was on him at the beginning of the recruiting year, when the New York back was still relatively unknown to many fans and recruiting followers. Back then, Penn State was still chasing such names as Will Mahone, Bri'Onte Dunn, and others, so it was though that Lynch would be the perfect No. 2 back to compliment those more-heralded runners.
In July, Lynch committed to Boston College, though everyone that follows Penn State recruiting seemed to think it was just a matter of time until he broke that and joined the good guys. He took visits to Iowa, Oklahoma and finally Penn State, and here we are.
Eight new coaches and one scandal later and Lynch is now the star running back that will be taken in this class. Coming out of New York, his recruitment was naturally slow to pick up. But he has slowly amassed an impressive offer sheet and even earned a fourth star by one of the services.
On campus for one of the more surreal recruiting visits by any recruit given the other news out of Happy Valley this weekend, Lynch had some great things to say ($) about Penn State, Joe Paterno and the opportunity to play in Happy Valley. Lynch's recruitment by the new staff was handled by the new recruiting coordinator and running backs coach, Charles London.
Outlook
First, let me blow your mind with a couple of quick stats from Akeel. In his senior year, Lynch ran 213 times for 2131 yards and 25 touchdowns. Don't have a calculator handy? It's ok, I've got the math for you. That's OVER 10 yards per carry and more than two touchdowns per game. Additionally, Lynch is a sprinter for the high school track team, and has been clocked at 10.6 on the 100-yard dash. That's fast.
He's a tall runner, in that he gets his body up to target speed quickly and can break away in a hurry. Additionally, he's got the frame to put on some extra weight and be a full featured back. For comparison, Silas Redd was listed officially at 5'10", 209 pounds this year, his second on a collegiate nutrition and conditioning program. With a couple inches on Redd, Lynch has the potential to be just as good as he fellow Nor'easter.
Lynch's commitment makes it four total on a day that should have been marred by sadness and reflection. This additional cause for celebration is exactly how Joe would have wanted it, with attention and praise reserved for the future student-athletes of Penn State. Go forth, Akeel, and carry on the good name of Penn State.
Welcome to Penn State, Akeel.
0 recs | 60 comments
Other Recruiting News
- Armani Reeves has officially opened up his recruitment, and will decide between OSU and UM.
- Still nothing from Skyler Mornhinweg, who was in Florida this weekend for an official visit. No news continues to be good news, but if I were a betting man (if?), I’d say Skyler won’t be a member of this class.
- The remaining two visitors from this weekend, Wendy Laurent and Steven Bench, each thoroughly enjoyed their trip. Don’t be surprised to see a couple more sirens before the week is out.
- Despite the loss of Cam Williams and Armani Reeves, next weekend is shaping up to be another big visit weekend. BOB will be in town given his week off before the Super Bowl, so there could be a couple more commitments there. I’m still working on scholarship numbers, and should have something “official” in the Wednesday primer.
- Our Signing Day primer will be up on Wednesday in lieu of this week’s Tuesday Recruitin’. SBN is pushing every college blog to have something up, so if you’re inclined, you can check out the other schools and where they stand.
- We’ll be taping a podcast this weekend with bloggers from OSU and UM, which should have some pretty good recap info as well as what to expect the last couple of days before Signing Day, which is next Wednesday.
- We’ll have an open thread for Signing Day, but in typical Penn State fashion, there likely won’t be any fireworks at the end.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Well Junny.....
Regardless, it’s looking a little better than I thought it would be….I thought it would be a total washout, but until BOB has a full recruiting cycle we won’t really appreciate what he will do, regardless of LjSr. and Vandy still doing their thing. But I am encouraged as much as I can be at this time.
DerryPharmer - January 23, 2012
Yea, it's a rough finish, but better than expected.
And I agree. Give BOB and staff a full cycle before we make any judgments, which I’m sure we’ll make. Urban Meyer is the celebrite du jour right now, and playing for him is an enticing prospect, despite the bowl ban. However, let’s see how a big honking Super Bowl ring matches up against him and Brady Hoke. We’re not going to win them all, but we should be more competitive now.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Thanks for all the work on this Junny!
I feel I’m like a lot of people on BSD that I don’t subscribe to any of the pay sites, so this is where I get my PSU recruiting info. So I just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work and effort you put into providing everybody with such great info.
It’s a shame that Reeves isn’t coming to PSU. Do you think it really boils down to PSU not having the guy who recruited both he and Cam still on staff? Or more to do with Urban and Hoke getting their say. I don’t want to speculate on kids and what they are thinking, but it seems that if both Armani and Cam had real interest in PSU, they would have waited to visit with BOB this weekend and then made a decision.
Again, this was always going to be a tough class, but it’s nice to see the new staff closing strong. Hopefully that leads to a great class next year and the continuing tradition that PSU has of recruiting good young men, not just football players. And on such a sad day and sad weekend, this line summed it up for me
GMac14 - January 23, 2012
I think it was the coaching change, personally.
Cam and Armani were tight with Bill Kenney, but they were also very close to the OSU and UM coaches. When the decision to commit was made, it was almost certainly a Kenney-driven choice. With him gone, it came down to familiarity. Cam felt more comfortable with Mike Vrabel and Ohio State than the unknown at Penn State.
And thanks for the kind words. Hopefully we’ll have a good Class of 2013 to keep you guys informed.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
If your invited podcast co-blogger list
happens to include Ramzy Nasrallah, give us a heads up so that I can choose not to tune in.
PSU Mudder - January 23, 2012
Seconded
Find an OSU blogger with some class.
Not a “fake buckeye”
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012 via mobile
Absolutely not.
I don’t want to go into to much on Ramzy other than what he initially wrote on Twitter was an assholish move. But please keep your wits about you, Penn State fanbase. Rise above the douchebags.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Thanks Junny.
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012
I'm confused
Does ‘absolutely not’ mean you absolutely will not do a podcast with him?
Or, you absolutely will not give a heads up so Mudder can tune out?
More importantly, what does ‘rise above’ mean, to us the fanbase?
jtothep - January 23, 2012
Ramzy will "absolutely not" be on this podcast.
And I don’t want to get into the issue any further. Some things happened that made me slightly less proud of Penn State fans, so all I’ll ask is that you, as a Penn State fanbase, stay above the asshole comments made. Because ramzy’s wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Got it
Thanks for the clarity.
jtothep - January 24, 2012
Nice work, Junny
Again some praise for those of us who don’t sub$cribe to other PSU sites. Your work is exemplary and we thank you.
teejaywalker - January 23, 2012
Williams and Reeves
not even giving BOB a chance to meet them really makes me want to wish ill on them. I try not to wish ill on players for not choosing Penn State, as they are kids and do what they think is best for them.
As Joe used to talk about not being worried about the ones you don’t get, but it’s hard to do that when the guys were so gung ho on Penn State from the start (especially Williams who I recall being kind of like Silas w/ his recruitment and cheerleading us to other recruits). Now they can’t even wait to meet the new coach. Whatever it is what it is let’s focus on our players! I for one love Lynch coming back and how he seemed to stay pretty level headed through it all.
va2pennstate - January 23, 2012
I feel the same way
But we have to remember that BOB did not retain Kenney, who was recruiting those guys.
Still, I don’t think they can lose much by talking to BOB
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012 via mobile
The recruiting coach
baffles me sort of in a way, I know certain coaches have ties to certain areas (LJ in MD/DC), and that’s who the recruit gets to know first, but don’t you think they should look at position coaches instead.
I can’t imagine a coaching staff, not just at PSU but anywhere, not talking about the projected position and how that position coach can ultimately help the recruit on the field, or use that in their pitch. I see the main recruiter as the guy who gets the contact with the recruit due to geographical area and connections to HS coaches, then the position coach talks to them, which is especially what baffles me with Williams.
Kids will be kids.
va2pennstate - January 23, 2012
Unfortunately, geography will always be the easiest way to divvy up recruiting grounds.
The current staff is doing that as we speak. If LJ goes into Virginia to meet a Class of 2013 QB recruit (let’s call him Ryan Burns…for argument’s sake), it would be difficult to establish that connection and then pass him off immediately. You’d have coaches criss-crossing each other all over the place. Instead, LJ builds a relationship with that kid and his parents and coaches, and when the time is right, he brings George Godsey and BOB into the mix.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
I get that
and see the point, but wouldn’t the guy recruiting him then stress the position coach too. I would see Kenney recruiting these guys, but while doing it also talking about how great Vandy is at coaching LB’s and you’ll be getting top notch coaching there, continue building the bridge, then on official visits they meet up with the position coach and head coach more…
va2pennstate - January 23, 2012
And also
I know the Burns kid, plays at the high school that borders the high school I coach at. Real good ballplayer, their coach is damn good at sending players to the next level, they have sent quite a few to Tech recently, my concern is that they typically run a Wing T, but they’ve been throwing a bit more the past few years with Burns. Big kid strong arm, if I recall correctly he had an offer to BC before even taking a varsity snap basically because of his size alone, went up to a camp freshman year got the offer.
There are actually three great high schools in our county, Stone Bridge, Broad Run, and Briar Woods (BW is where I coach), and our guys don’t get the big offers too often typically because we were AA schools in the past.
SB has been AAA a few years and that’s when their guys really took off and started going places, BR has moved to AAA this year and sent a RB to Pitt a few years ago but never took off there. My school will be going AAA in 3 years on the next cycle, so we’ll get more notice then, however we do have Alex Carter who will be going to Stanford, Army All American and Parade All American this year, great kid with head on his shoudlers. We have a couple more players, one junior one TE and one a sophomore QB, who will probably play at the next level question is where.
Of course I’m just a baseball coach there. Been trying like hell to get the QB to come out and pitch but he wants to play LAX…..
va2pennstate - January 23, 2012
In regards to Burns....
6’ 4", 220 lbs…. Go get him LJ!!
GMac14 - January 23, 2012
thinking now
about him running the wing T or his school having some packages with it, could be great, kid’s big, strong arm…mobile because of running that…
Combine his size with some mobility due to his system, combine him with a good QB coach and BOB’s system, could be nice.
va2pennstate - January 23, 2012
This sounds remarkably like the stuff we said about Rob Bolden.
No dispute that he could be a good player, but I’d like to start recruiting QBs who play in slightly more sophisticated passing offenses, especially if BOB intends on running that kind of scheme at this level.
Adam Collyer - January 23, 2012
True
But hopefully with a better situation at QB coach/Offensive coordinator, a QB might be able to come in and show growth. I don’t think anyone doubts Bolden’s athletic ability, he just seems to have been mentally destroyed. So hopefully the new coaching staff can take a QB (Whether it be from a running style offense or passing) and make him a credible starting QB.
GMac14 - January 23, 2012
So a kid doesn't do what you want him to do & you consider wishing ill on him?
Really?
Uhaul - January 23, 2012
Thanks Junny
Excited about Lynch.
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012 via mobile
If Skyler is most likely out of the picture for us..
is it safe to say that we probably won’t be signing a QB in this class? If so, how important will it be for the staff to bring in someone next year?… and Finally, any early info on possible targets/interest for 2013 QBs?
Domin8ing the Big Ten(11) - January 23, 2012
Steven Bench, a two-star QB from Georgia, was here this past weekend, and is a probably commit.
As for next year, keep your ears opened for the names Ryan Burns (VA) and Kevin Olsen (NJ). There will be more added as the year progresses, but those are early targets.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Has the ship sailed on Fuller?
Not sure if he’s the type of QB that can ride the BOBsled anyway.
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012
Yea, it's gone.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
That kid is going to be electric at Rutgers.
The defenses he’ll face there won’t be much different than the ones he sees now.
#BigLeastBurn
Adam Collyer - January 23, 2012
Gonna assume Olsen is related to Greg Olsen?
Adam Collyer - January 23, 2012
Maybe this is just sour grapes,
but Bench’s throwing motion and arm look, honestly, better and more fluid than Skyler’s… he looks like he’s throwing the shot put more than throwing a football. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d still love to have both on board. But Bench looks like he could be better than that 2-star rating, and may not be as big a step down as some people may be inclined to think.
psuwxman - January 23, 2012
That is a very popular sentiment with some of the premium board members.
Now, that’s not to say that their opinion is any better or worse than anyone else’s, but it’s not just you. And I’m sure some of it is sour grapes as a fan base, but that’s OK.
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
I watched Bench's film
and was not impressed. I didn’t see even one pass that travelled more than 40 yards in the air. People who complain about McGlon’s arm strength would blow their brains out watching this kid. I saw 2003 Zach Mills when I watched it. I honestly liked Cabot’s film WAY better. Too bad he didn’t stick around. Makes me appreciate McGloin and his efforts a little more.
All that said, I am far, FAR from a QB expert. So nothing I wrote above should be taken as statement of fact – just my observations and opinions from them.
PSUEnrg02 - January 23, 2012
There's a reason we're "battling" Rice here.
Uhaul - January 23, 2012
Well I think I remember reading
that he had been impressing only very lately in some camps he attended. /shrug
We’ll just have to see.
psuwxman - January 23, 2012
He throws a 40+ yarder
from his own 46 or so down to the 10 yard line a little after the 8:15 mark of this video.
I mean, I’ll take Zach Mills again. Seriously. Arm strength isn’t everything, and it’s not every day you find a golden arm like Anthony Morelli…
/HHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-
psuwxman - January 23, 2012
IMO he's not as far back as the 46 yard line
and it’s caught closer to the 15. So we’ll give that one throw about 40 yards. That’s it in a whole highlight real.
I agree completely that arm strength isn’t everything. I was a big fan of Zach Mills.
My point was that people constantly rip on McGloin for having ‘a candy ass arm’ and he routinely throws balls over 50 yards in the air, and has plenty of zip when he drives it. If they started this kid and the team falters, he’d get ripped to shreds.
PSUEnrg02 - January 23, 2012
This recruiting year...
With the direction BOB and staff seem to be going… making offers in AL, GA, etc… this year I would gladly trade 2, 4-star recruits from MA for 2 or 3 3-star recruits from the South if it sets the foundation for successes in the region that provides a future “pipeline” to PSU, the real keystone pipeline so to say.
PSU_Ovaltine68 - January 23, 2012 via mobile
Welcome Mr. Lynch!
He certainly looks like a man among boys in that highlight tape. Folks, we have to be thankful for everyone in this recruiting class. Think about the uncertainty that they’re walking into. These kids want to be here, and they must share the optimism that I have that we’re coming through the darkest hours already.
Cupboard isn’t bare for next year, either. With some good coaching, this PSU team could sneak up on some folks.
SkellerDweller06 - January 23, 2012
Yep
Typical HS highlight reel for a good college-bound player. He just outruns guys around the corner and out-muscles others near the LOS. Definitely there will be a learning curve in the B1G as some of those moves around the LOS would be 3 yard losses or no gain to the sideline. But he’s got some really nice jukes and stutters at the 2nd level.
I wonder what Oklahoma was recruiting him as? Given his offer list, it is surprising he’d turn that down unless he was being targeted as a DB.
gcdyersb - January 23, 2012
Pretty sure it was at tailback.
Also, Oklahoma is really far from Buffalo. Maybe he just wants to be closer to home.
Adam Collyer - January 23, 2012
Future Sign in the Student Section
Akeel Lynch Mob !!
Dr.TobiasFunke - January 23, 2012
nevermind, bad idea
Dr.TobiasFunke - January 23, 2012
You'll have to relinquish your credentials for this one
Tobias Fünke: Michael if I may take off my pants and pull my analrapist stocking over my head, I think George Michael may be suffering from what we in the soft-sciences call “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”, or the “The O.C. Disorder”.
Tobias Fünke: I’m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run if you will, so I’m afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.
Michael Bluth: There’s so many poorly chosen words in that sentence.
gcdyersb - January 23, 2012
Ooh, I can taste those meaty, leading man parts in my mouth!
Bob Sacamano - January 23, 2012
Oh Tobias, you blowhard!
Assorted Fruit - January 23, 2012
UUHHHH.........
I dont know if this is an inside joke or maybe I just dont get it, but do you really think that anal rape is an appropriate topic. Especially given the revelations of the past few months. Even if it is in a joking manner. Just a thought
AdamP84 - January 23, 2012
Dr Funke was the the worlds first Analyst/Therapist
Dr.TobiasFunke - January 23, 2012
Ok
Well that is a bit funny
AdamP84 - January 23, 2012
Never
watched the show. I had to google it
AdamP84 - January 23, 2012
I just blue myself
Artiefufkin10 - January 23, 2012
How do you measure yourself with other runners?
By height.
WorldBFat - January 23, 2012
Jeff Junstrom - January 23, 2012
Welcome, Akeel!
With luck, we’ll be giving you an excellent O-line to work with.
The Schmatta - January 23, 2012
I want to be excited about this
(and in case any of our recruits read BSD, I truly can’t wait to see you in Beaver Stadium), but getting excited about PSU football seems strange given the past 48 hours.
tbs5005 - January 23, 2012
it's what Joe would have wanted,
So why not?
misdreavus79 - January 23, 2012 via iPhone app
I see your point, and it's very true
But it’s hard to force emotion. Welcome to the family nonetheless, Akeel. With what I’ve read, I am thrilled you chose PSU.
tbs5005 - January 23, 2012
Runs straight up like LJ Jr...gonna get killed with that style if he doesn't bulk up
SweepTheLeg - January 23, 2012
I think I like this kid
He has already scored in the Carrier Dome and Ralph Wilson Stadium. Funny how his film goes from those venues to one that looks like a city park.
Another good thing, he wears number 5. I think another pretty good RB for Penn State wore number 5.
Welcome, Akeel.
PaJoe - January 23, 2012
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