Steven Bench, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Stats
Home/HS: Camilla, GA/Cairo HS
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 205-220
Starz 'n Sheetz
Stars: 3* (247Sports, Rivals), 2* (Scout)
Offer sheet: Rice, FCS
Cinema
The Tale
Bench was another offer handed out on Ted Roof's tear through the south, and the Georgia gunslinger opted for Penn State over his former commitment to Rice today.
Bench was on campus last weekend with the other four recent commits (waiting on you, Wendy, to make a true six-peat). I'm pretty sure he is the man behind the now famous Beaver Stadium white out shot, so he's already won the hearts of Penn Staters.
After taking a couple of days to truly weigh his options, Bench made the call. Though with offers from Rice, FCS schools and Penn State, was there really much to think about? In Steven's mind there was, and that is highly commendable. He thought it out, weighed his options, and made the choice to become a Nittany Lion.
Outlook
Watch the video above, and you can see that Bench has some legs to match a decent arm. He'll need to strengthen up that throwing arm if he wants to throw the long ball, but in the Bill O'Brien offense, as long as he can find Adam Breneman in the open seam across the middle, it's OK with me.
Like the rest of the recent commits, we don't know much about Bench. He's from a rural part of southern Georgia, so he may have suffered the same recruiting fate the New York prospects suffer (lack of exposure). There are reports he performed admirably at camps, but still only had the Rice offer from Division 1 schools.
Recent reports are relatively split on Bench. With the proper coaching and some growth, he could end up being just what the Bill O'Brien offense needs in a couple of years.
Finally, there is nothing out there (yet) to suggest that Bench's commitment is due in part to Skyler Mornhinweg's decommitment. Mornhinweg was in Florida last weekend and plans to visit Virginia Tech before next Wednesday's Signing Day. Stay tuned for more.
Welcome to Penn State, Steven.
Be sure to become a fan of BSD on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!
0 recs | 122 comments
Nice...in BOB we trust
SweepTheLeg - January 24, 2012
He hasn't failed us yet!
jrock4 - January 24, 2012
Really? I got one word for you:
Strollo
PSUinOH - January 24, 2012 via mobile
roof
tlrpsu - January 24, 2012
save these comments for football season
to call strollo or roof failures at this point would be very premature. They havent even been on campus for a month yet.
If in October the defense is a sieve and the TEs cant catch a cold, then I will gladly call them failures (and even then it may be too soon for that label), but 3 weeks after they were hired, cant we hold off judgment?
swiggy04 - January 25, 2012
also
strollo and roof haven’t failed us yet
jrock4 - January 25, 2012
I am hoping that the recent kids make a really special bond
with each other and with the school that leads to a lot of success both on the field and off.
FB6244 - January 24, 2012
Not asking for much.
“He’ll need to strengthen up that throwing arm if he wants to throw the long ball, but in the Bill O’Brien offense, as long as he can find Adam Breneman in the open seam across the middle, it’s OK with me.”
Hell… as long as he can hit Redd with a screen pass and not put it into the 5th row… it’s an improvement.
LB31Monster - January 24, 2012
And is this guy's high school mascot...
really the Syrupmakers. Really? I thought the Poca, WV “Dots” were bad. Or the Mars, PA “Planets”. Wow. Just… wow.
LB31Monster - January 24, 2012
Lol I love high school mascots.
One of our neighboring schools were the Nottingham, NJ “North Stars”. Princeton, NJ were the “Little Tigers”.
dbl5030 - January 24, 2012
There's a school in Indiana called the Jimtown Jimmies.
And I’ve always liked the Northampton (PA) Konkrete Kids. Apparently, there are a lot of cement plants in the Northampton area.
icavalera - January 24, 2012
How about
Mosinee (WI) Papermakers?
Gopher Broke - January 24, 2012
My favorite
has always been the Centralia (IL) Orphans….
The girls teams are the Annies…
jaytay13 - January 24, 2012
Another Recent commit: Johnathan Warner
went to Camas High School which is also the Papermakers.
Nittany_Vandal - January 24, 2012
Best in Indiana
Is probably the Frankfort Hotdogs, but there are so many, really, it’s hard to choose.
ChicagoHoosier - January 24, 2012
Sleepy Hollow Horsemen is my favorite
Near Tarrytown, NY.
reedjohnmiller - January 24, 2012
My friend
married a Frankfort Hotdog. I always enjoyed that one. He met her at IU, where prior to being with her he dated Sage Steele.
James - January 24, 2012
Sage was sexy back in her DC days
I think ESPN has toned her down a bit. Too bad.
kijana's acl - January 24, 2012
Sage Steele
That can’t be her real name, right? I remember the first time I saw her name (I think on Comcast DC/Baltimore) and thinking she had to have made it up for television.
icavalera - January 24, 2012
I believe it is her real name actually.
James - January 24, 2012
Same
I heard her name and thought she was a porn star.
06Lion - January 24, 2012
A porn star or a female wrestler.
Sage Steele in a steel cage death match!!!!!
icavalera - January 24, 2012
Can't go wrong with the Watersmeet Nimrods.
They were featured in an ESPN commercial a few years back. They were in my old TV station’s viewing area.
psuwxman - January 24, 2012
Good name, and there are a lot of cement plants there. It's next to Cementon, PA
I also like the West Philly Speedboys and the Ben Franklin Electrons.
tr88 - January 24, 2012
I hate Mars
Those kids were dicks in every sport I ever played them.
06Lion - January 24, 2012
Well that just isn't true
Where’d you go to high school?
Because I went to Mars, and I definitely wasn’t a dick
psuphysicist - January 24, 2012
fixed
Because I went to Mars, and I definitely wasn’t a dickBMAN13 - January 24, 2012
Whats with all the Mars hate?
I’m honestly baffled.
psuphysicist - January 24, 2012
I never met anyone from mars, I’m just being a dick!
BMAN13 - January 24, 2012
Your people do have a reputation for
abductions, probes and torture.
rahpsu92 - January 24, 2012
Are you John Carter?
icavalera - January 24, 2012
Knoch High School
And before that, Karns City.
06Lion - January 24, 2012
It gets better...
The city name is not pronounced like Cairo, Egypt… it is like Karo (the syrup)… that’s awesome!!
PSU_Ovaltine68 - January 24, 2012
My high school:
The North East Grape Pickers. Our mascot was a big grape.
PSUmob - January 24, 2012
There's a small school in NEPA
who’s mascot is a tow truck.
Weatherly Wreckers
Tailgate Shogun - January 24, 2012
My HS's mascot
At least it is blue and white
letsgopsu - January 24, 2012
Just found this, as if on cue
http://www.jockular.com/12925/7-most-ridiculous-high-school-mascots
CMUWR12 - January 24, 2012
.
letsgopsu - January 24, 2012
right on... my favorite was number 2....
and in case you were wondering … and obviously even if you aren’t… they’re the orphans because centrailia once had the biggest orphanage in the midwest…
and most of the high school were orphans at that point…
jaytay13 - January 24, 2012
Hey, an appearnce by Williamsport on this list!
If I’m not mistaken, the reason they’re called the Millionaires is because at one time (late 19th/early 20th century), there were more millionaires per capita in Williamsport than anywhere else in the country.
icavalera - January 25, 2012
Arm strength...
The film only shows a couple of deep throws so he might need more arm strength; however, he seems to be very accurate on the throws to the flat, on the run and those 15-25 yards down field… I’ll take that accuracy now and anytime. Welcome, Steven.
PSU_Ovaltine68 - January 24, 2012
If we could get Zack Mills 2
I’d take the good with the bad and never look back at the 2010/2011 quarterbacking follies.
PSUCharmas - January 24, 2012
It's always good to pull kids from schools we havn't
At least we are starting to make a connection with some of the southern states. It is nice to see. I can’t wait to see what the coaches can do with these kids. It’s always funny to look in the NFL and see where all the small school colleges that schools come from. I can see why he would have a lot to think about.
Probably going in his mind is:
Rice: I can start and play and throw for 2000 yards and be the king of the school
PSU: I will be on TV all the time but might not start and it will take me a while to play.
It should be interesting to see.
jetskijoe - January 24, 2012
I think more people attend debates at Rice than football games.
Uhaul - January 24, 2012
Great baseball program, however.
reedjohnmiller - January 24, 2012
Like seeing him operate with 3 and 4 wide sets
Really like seeing him with the confidence to throw the ball to the TE over the middle. Decent wheels.
Most of all, I trust Bill picking QBs. Let the rest of the staff handle their respective positions and let Bill deal with TEs and QBs. I’ll be a happy man.
jls83 - January 24, 2012
Preface: I am a "fan" of the BOB hire and most of his decisions so far. But,
1. Why does everyone trust BOB with picking QBs? Tom Brady was already in NE when BOB got there, and Brady was already very good (or even great) at that time as well. Looking at BOB’s history, I don’t see a ton of “Wow, he recruited that guy?!?!” or “Wow, he coached that kid up!!”
2. Why does everyone assume the offense is going to be TE heavy? As far as I can tell, BOB has always used what he had in front of him. This year, it happens to be TEs.
Sorry jls83, please don’t take this as a slight, you just hit on two points that have been bugging me since his hire.
That said, “I BILLieve.”
emccomb1 - January 24, 2012
Valid points.
Jeff Junstrom - January 24, 2012
I don't think it's a proven track record of recruiting or training QBs
I think it’s the fact that he currently experiences success at the highest level from a pass heavy offense with a hall of fame quarterback. In other words, he should have first hand knowledge of the physical gifts, personality, attitude, training, etc. that a very successful quarterback needs. If he can recognize the potential for this in a high school kid, boom.
PSUCharmas - January 24, 2012
Fair point - rec
emccomb1 - January 25, 2012
All extremely valid points. Let me see if I can make sense.
I just believe that he’s seen more film of Tom Brady by now that he should understand what makes Tom Brady a great quarterback, and is hopefully identifying some of that greatness when he is watching a prospect’s film. In essence, I’m not asking BOB to develop someone great, just pick guys that he thinks may have the potential to have that potential.
As far as picking TEs, I think Bill will understand what type of TE he wants in his system. To me, at least, TEs can be so different across the board. A good play action passing game operates directly off your TE. Personally, I think the TE is your saving grace with young quarterbacks and are under-used at all levels of the game.
Don’t worry I didn’t take any of that as a slight. I just needed to clarify more. To me, BOB isn’t here to develop, he’s here to identify and manage.
jls83 - January 24, 2012
"may have the potential to have that potential"
I nominate myself for the ‘John Madden Ridiculous Statement of the Year Award’ (sponsored by Tinactin)
jls83 - January 24, 2012
I hope we can still land Mornhinweg
I think this year proves that you can never have too many QBs. and furthermore, I thoight I’ve read that Skyler’s athletic enough to play safety, which is also a position of need.
DrewRusse - January 24, 2012
I think we did have too many QBs, though
The random rotation thing. Don’t ever do it again please.
PSUCharmas - January 24, 2012
we had too many
by virtue of not having any.
If that makes sense.
swiggy04 - January 24, 2012
I see the headlines coming...
Bench, Benched!
Please bench Bench!
BOB Benched!
Penn State Benched!
Anyone else see a positive headline out of him?
12-29-1994 - January 24, 2012
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes get Benched
Bret Bielema still a douchebag….get’s Benched in Happy Valley
I think there is a lot to work with.
GMac14 - January 24, 2012
Auto-rec
for calling Bielema a douche. Only thing that would’ve been funnier is if you called him Bert.
jls83 - January 24, 2012
Bench setting new Bench-marks for greatness.
rahpsu92 - January 24, 2012
He just "Benched" their entire secondary!
emccomb1 - January 24, 2012
Bench
forces Brady Hoke to the bench.
SarcasmJam - January 24, 2012
We really just need to run a search on Cincinnati baseball articles from the 1970s for inspiration
kijana's acl - January 24, 2012
Son of a Bench!
LowcountryLion - January 24, 2012
Bench Please!
Drea1020 - January 24, 2012
Bench tells Hoke to
sit his fat ass down!
jls83 - January 24, 2012
Bench benched after bench-clearing brawl...
Maybe I should stop while I’m ahead.
LowcountryLion - January 24, 2012
Penn State again relies on Bench for 15th straight win.
No.21 - January 24, 2012
"Bench hits Kuntz in the seam!"
swiggy04 - January 24, 2012
Well that's just disturbing. Haha!
jls83 - January 24, 2012
Bench Pressed For Answers After Another Cruzan Rum Scandal
TheWrathofQBEagles - January 24, 2012
We beat out Rice.
Imagine that.
Uhaul - January 24, 2012
Off topic here,
but I see there’s some speculation over at BHGP concerning Tom Bradley possibly becoming the new DC at Iowa.
icavalera - January 24, 2012
On the last BSD podcast the guys were talking and mentioned if Bradley was going to go somewhere, Iowa was the most logical place
Ferentz is a PA guy and so is Bradley. Kind of the same scheme and hard working attitude Bradley has.
GMac14 - January 24, 2012
I don't buy it at all
I just can’t imagine Bradley staying in the B1G. He’s been such a solid PSU guy his whole life, you have to think that going against us every year (or close to it) would be too much.
spakajewia - January 24, 2012
I hope he does take the Iowa job
and in some strange way, I almost hope he shuts out PSU. Just to remind our genius AD what he passed by to make sure that our PR was all good.
Tailgate Shogun - January 24, 2012
I think it would be a great fit.
And I would join Rambler in having a big crush on them.
06Lion - January 24, 2012
He's already at work:
StevenBench Steven Bench @ @AdamBreneman87 thanks bro hope so too. I want you to join the nittany lion nation with me!!
DrewRusse - January 24, 2012
And that is the best thing about pulling kids like him
It is worth to take a chance on a kid might or might not work out to help in recruiting in a few years.
jetskijoe - January 24, 2012
YESSSSSSSSSSS
PSUCharmas - January 24, 2012
Love it.
FB6244 - January 24, 2012
I never understood why people get worked up over stuff like this.
While I’m glad he’s doing it, amost every recruit does this sort of thing.
Uhaul - January 24, 2012
I'll take a 2/3* athlete who is excited about PSU
Over any better players who aren’t fully comitted to the University. With respect to Paterno, 8-2 is never a bad thing as long as the players are truly “Penn Staters”.
tbs5005 - January 24, 2012
Truth be told, wouldn't you only want recruits who were committed to the University?
Regardless of star status…
Uhaul - January 24, 2012
Ahh, nascent bro love
So pure and lovely.
jtothep - January 24, 2012
Welcome, Steven!
Here’s to many pun filled headlines during your career as a Nittany Lion!
michellemtsu - January 24, 2012 via iPhone app
I'm sure I'll be in the minority on this....and I don't know, maybe I'm just waxing poetic from the sorrow over the weekend,
but I want to believe this is going to be a special class. I look back at the class of DWill, JKing, and others and see how that changed PSU football for the back half of this decade and hope this class could be like that. They aren’t close in talent, but this is a group of kids who have made a commitment to PSU during one of the toughest/darkest times in the programs history. Maybe none of these kids will turn out to be stars or set records like that previous class, but this is the last class brought in during the JoePa era. They chose PSU to be a part of something special, even when everyone outside tells them what a horrible place PSU is now. I want to believe that in 10 years we’ll look back and at the very least, see this class bridged the gap between era’s. And when PSU could have been staring at a 2nd coming of the “Dark Years”, these kids stepped in and helped keep PSU going. I just wish all of these kids success and it shows a lot about the character of each one of them. It’s not about how many stars they have, but about what kind of kids/men they are and are going to be. I think there is nothing that helps keep Joe’s memory alive like a group of under the radar, hard working kids who will hopefully overachieve and succeed.
GMac14 - January 24, 2012
rec'd
fixnola - January 24, 2012
They made a movie about Marshall
however I would venture to say they had it tougher than this. And now that I think about it, Joe would not want us to draw such analogies. With a dismissive wave he’d say that we might have it tough, but there’s always someone else out there that has it tougher and we should pray for them.
But you have to imagine that as these returns and recruits run through the gate into Beaver Stadium, they will have emotions far more intense than any players before or after them.
cs93 - January 25, 2012
Any word on the two linebackers from Alabama? Cox from Jeanette?
If we can land those three kids, I’d say good show, let’s call it a day. Evan Schwan coming would be great too. He’s just icing on the cake. Anyone have any new info on those three? Are the Alabama LBs visiting?
LionInTheWeeds - January 24, 2012
Junny said he'll be posting a primer for signing day tomorrow at some point
I, for one, can hardly wait.
swiggy04 - January 24, 2012
Don't think we get the AL LBs.
Cox is tough to read, probably a PSU/OSU battle.
Jeff Junstrom - January 24, 2012
How many scholarships does OSU have?
Enough to get Williams, Reeves and Cox? And aren’t they supposed to be down 3 a year?
GMac14 - January 24, 2012
I've seen reports where they think they can take 28.
Not sure how that’s possible, but they can certainly fit those three by their numbers.
Jeff Junstrom - January 24, 2012
OSU is our own little corner
of the SEC aren’t they?
rahpsu92 - January 24, 2012
Florida State North has been my name for them since the Cooper era
kijana's acl - January 25, 2012
FOS...
is calling Cox to MSU. Based on a hunch or something.
jarosity - January 24, 2012
I was out of town over the weekend
With no contact to the outside world. Talk about a shock when I got home.
When did Skyler decommit? That’s a drag.
87Townie - January 24, 2012
Skyler didn't decommit yet
jetskijoe - January 24, 2012
But he is looking.
Uhaul - January 24, 2012
true
and if he doesn’t want to part of penn state then I wish him the best of luck. Skyler could be another QB14 who knows. I just want kids that want to go to Penn State and not ones that are scared because we have a whole new coaching staff.
jetskijoe - January 24, 2012
I thought I read somewhere that new staff wanted him at DB
psupride - January 24, 2012
I don't think so.
I’ve never been all that enamored with Skyler anyway, so if he doesn’t come here, whatever. Also, his first name isn’t winning me over either.
Bob Sacamano - January 25, 2012
One of my best friends is from Camilla GA
it is a SMALL town, with big accents.
I don’t know if she went to this HS or private school. But I am sure she will be very excited. She loves her some football, although she is a Dawgs/Falcons fan.
letsgopsu - January 24, 2012
Is he mobile?
Run for a first down or two?
FB6244 - January 24, 2012
What is this concept you speak of?
Tell me more...nuker77 - January 24, 2012
I heard BOB told Skyler
they want him for safety. The kid is an MVP on both sides of the ball, best HS QB I’ve ever seen in person, but also led the PCL in picks at safety as a freshman.
1st team all catholic both ways again this season.
JoePa'sHornRimmedGlasses - January 24, 2012
Not only is he recruiting Brenneman
@PTReeves8 I want you to come to PSU with me man. We can do GREAT things together
I’m a fan… If he’s dedicated, that’s all I need.
SaintJoePa045 - January 24, 2012
I have to think that BOB and whatever he's telling these guys has some hand in this
The fact that we’ve gotten a couple kids to de-commit from other (arguably less successful) programs is a big testament to the new staff’s recruiting ability. Excited to see what they can do with a full year and some space from the scandal under their belts.
LAPSU - January 24, 2012
So what about the fact that several of our recruits have decommitted?
Guys have decomitted from other schools because they received an offer from a better school, ie PSU. We’re taking guys from Akron and BC right now, not Florida and OSU.
skarocksoi - January 24, 2012
Shhhh....
don’t bring that up…
Tailgate Shogun - January 24, 2012
This class just needs to be glue
Right now, the most important thing is to keep morale up and get guys who are really committed to Penn State and willing to buy into all of the traditional PSU stuff AND whatever it is exactly that BOB is selling. If we have that, next year could be pretty decent – not awesome, probably – but ok. From there we can build up the star power.
reedjohnmiller - January 24, 2012
His tape impresses me
I realize that he isnt playing the best competition, but neither was Curtis Dukes. I just gonna throw this one out there if its taken, ok, if not throw it right back: he looks like a tall Zach Mills. boom.
ReddWhitenBlue - January 24, 2012
Is it true
that we got Reeves also?
SarcasmJam - January 24, 2012
Reeves officially eliminated PSU
down to UM and OSU
DrewRusse - January 24, 2012
Welcome young man.
I don’t think I could put a highlight video of McGlion and Bolden together that showcased that many completions!
linuxdood - January 24, 2012
To their team
jls83 - January 24, 2012
Coming from Southwest Ohio (more specifically Cincinnati)...
… I watch a lot of high school football. It is like religion here. Watching that video, I have to say the kid isn’t half bad and I’m surprised he didn’t get more offers. I think it more or less has something to do with the fact that pro-style attacks like Georgia and Alabama already have top QBs locked up, and he doesn’t quite fit the scheme of the other SEC schools or even the Sun Belt schools for that matter. He reminds me a lot of Ben Mauk and Zach Collaros, two QBs from small schools in Ohio that flew under the radar and then ended up being pretty damn good at Cincinnati. He looks like he has a frame that could easily carry another 15-20 pounds of muscle (especially in the legs), and he has terrible running form but that’s not necessarily a bad thing because he moves pretty well despite the bad form, so given time to work with PSU’s strength and conditioning staff, he could improve immensely. Overall, not a bad pickup for PSU.
TheHumbleBuckeye - January 24, 2012
Bench
His junior year he played at a different school that ran a simpler, run-oriented offense so he didn’t get on the radar. Transferred to Cairo for his senior season that featured a more complex offense and gave him a lot more passing opportunities, and he just tore it up. Otherwise he probably could easily been a 4 star. Same situation with the other recruit Jonathon Warner. Had a couple of seniors ahead of him so didn’t get much playing time as a junior. Between Jr. and Sr. seasons he got professional S&C help and bulked up 15 lbs. of muscle then tore it up his senior season as well. Could easily have been a 3 star otherwise. Seems to be the problem with kids that aren’t being followed from their soph/jr. seasons.
So don’t be surprised if you see a lot of these two in the fall. I think their just coming into their own.
Nectir - January 26, 2012
like your assement
linuxdood - January 24, 2012
Looks like a very good athlete
Here’s hoping for good things
ckmneon - January 24, 2012
WHERE ARE MY STARS
I WANT MY STARZZZZZ
ICEICETHATGUY13 - January 24, 2012
You have to call your cable or satellite provider.
nickrapak - January 24, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Black Shoe Diaries to post a comment.