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Christian Hackenberg officially signs with Penn State

FORK UNION, Va. - At a small table inside the Estes Athletic Center on the Fork Union Military Academy campus, with teammates and family surrounding him, Christian Hackenberg signed a letter of intent to Penn State.

Christian Hackenberg, flanked by his parents, Erick and Nikki, poses at a ceremony celebrating the signing of his letter of intent to attend Penn State University. The highly-touted quarterback is from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. (Joe Hermitt/PennLive.com)
Christian Hackenberg, flanked by his parents, Erick and Nikki, poses at a ceremony celebrating the signing of his letter of intent to attend Penn State University. The highly-touted quarterback is from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. (Joe Hermitt/PennLive.com)Read more
    by By Bob Flounders, THE PATRIOT-NEWS, Inquirer
    Published 

FORK UNION, Va. - At a small table inside the Estes Athletic Center on the Fork Union Military Academy campus, with teammates and family surrounding him, Christian Hackenberg signed a letter of intent to Penn State.

He officially became a Nittany Lion at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday. And he said he was anxious to talk with Penn State coach Bill O'Brien and quarterbacks coach Charlie Fisher on Wednesday evening.

"I feel better with Coach O'Brien, what he did with [quarterback Matt] McGloin, I can't wait [to get there]," Hackenberg said.

Hackenberg, who spent three years at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, was all smiles after he signed. He looked elated.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Hackenberg, a 17-year-old five-star recruit, is arguably the top quarterback prospect in the 2013 class. It's rare for a quarterback recruit of such high national regard to sign at Penn State.

O'Brien and the Nittany Lions managed to land this centerpiece of its 2013 recruiting class while dealing with staggering NCAA sanctions.

Like every other recruit in Penn State's 2013 class, it wasn't an easy decision to stick with the Nittany Lions. The Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse scandal and its ramifications - loss of 40 scholarships and a bowl ban over four years among them - left plenty of reasons to decommit from O'Brien's program. But Hackenberg, former Cedar Cliff star tight end Adam Breneman, and many other highly rated recruits chose to stay.

After finally signing the letter of intent Wednesday, Hackenberg said he was relieved.

"A little bit," a smiling Hackenberg replied when was asked if he slept Tuesday night. "I was up until about midnight. I just wanted to get [the signing] over with."

Hackenberg said he planned to visit Breneman, one of his closest friends, in State College soon, possibly this weekend. Breneman enrolled at Penn State last month so he could take part in spring practice.

"We're looking forward to it, really proud, honored, kind of humbled for Christian to be part of the whole Penn State [program]," said Christian's father, Erick Hackenberg.