Penn State lands a star linebacker

His father and his uncle both played linebacker for Joe Paterno, so it seemed safe to assume that Mike Hull would become the third family member to roam that position under the watchful bespectacled eyes of the 83-year-old Penn State coach.

And Hull left no doubt that's what he wanted to do, having told Paterno in person at Beaver Stadium before the Nittany Lions' final regular-season game of 2008. That's right, 2008, making him the first verbal commitment of the Class of 2010.

Yesterday, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Hull, from Canon-McMillan High School near Pittsburgh, finally got to put his signature on a letter of intent, one of 13 high school stars to do so. Seven other incoming freshman already have enrolled for the current semester.

Hull and Khairi Fortt, of Stamford, Conn., give the Lions two four-star linebackers as rated by more than one recruiting Web site, meaning the reputation of Linebacker U. lives on.

In particular, Hull, the defensive MVP of last weekend's Team USA vs. Team World game in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has a chance to be special like other Western Pennsylvania-bred Penn State backers such as LaVar Arrington, Paul Posluszny, and Sean Lee.

"Penn State is noted for their linebackers and you very rarely see a freshman in there no matter how tough they might be," said Bob Lichtenfels, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "But I think Mike Hull is a player who will get to play as a freshman. He'll be a captain there before he leaves."

The Nittany Lions lost their three starting linebackers from 2009, and promising sophomore Michael Mauti will attempt to come back after sitting out with a torn ACL.

Except for his staff, no one knows how Paterno feels about Hull, or anyone else in the 2010 recruiting class. He is the only head coach in the Big Ten - and perhaps one of the very few among FBS head coaches in the country - who did not schedule a news conference yesterday to discuss the newcomers.

"People say to me, 'Boy, you've got a good recruiting class,' " Paterno told the Sporting News in a recent interview. "I say, 'How do you know? I haven't seen one of them get punched in the nose yet.' "

The Lions' recruiting class was ranked eighth by ESPN Scouts Inc., ninth by Scout.com, and 12th by Rivals.com. All three services said Penn State had the Big Ten's best class.

"Overall it's a very good class," said analyst Mike Farrell of Rivals.com. "They hit their needs at quarterback. They got the premium running back they wanted. They nailed it on the offensive line and killed it at linebacker. They probably wanted a second defensive tackle and a cornerback. But overall, they didn't miss much."

The Lions signed a pair of top-10 quarterbacks, Paul Jones and Robert Bolden, along with four-star offensive linemen Tom Ricketts and Miles Dieffenbach. They also got Silas Redd of Stamford, Conn., a strong and explosive running back, and 6-4, 300-pound defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.

There were some disappointments along the way. Defensive lineman Dominique Easley of Staten Island, N.Y., the seventh overall player according to Rivals, committed to Penn State, then backed out and signed with Florida. Wide receiver Adrian Coxson of Baltimore did the same thing.

A pair of five-star players - running back Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina) and defensive back Keenan Allen (California) - gave serious consideration to the Lions before signing elsewhere, as did defensive tackle Michael Thornton (Georgia).