Lions land No. 8
Happy Birthday Mom...
If that's the message York (Pa.) Central York Kyle Baublitz was trying to get across to his mother, he did it in a big way on Sunday, as the Rivals250 defensive lineman verbally accepted a scholarship to play big-time college football.
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"I made my decision," said Baublitz. "It's Penn State."
Baublitz made his decision this afternoon, and said he's been leaning toward the Nittany Lions for some time now. He laid out why he chose to play his college ball in Happy Valley.
"It's two hours from home, it felt really comfortable to me, I love coach Johnson, he's a great coach, the atmosphere is amazing, there's a lot of positives with academics, the coaching staff and players," he said. "It's just really kind of felt home to me.
"I kind of had the decision that I was going to decide for Penn State, I was just going to make it on my mom's birthday."
The nation's No. 131 prospect broke the news to Joe Paterno this afternoon.
"I told coach Paterno," he said. "He said that they'd been after me for a while, they were looking at me for a long time and they were glad that I'm going to go there. He's excited, everyone is excited."
As a junior in 2008, Baublitz recorded 166 tackles from his linebacker spot and was named first team all-state. He was also a first team all-county selection at tight end and linebacker.
On Sunday evening, the normally stoic Baublitz said that he's excited to take the next step.
"It's awesome, I don't know, it's just so cool that it's off my chest and I can kind of relax now and now worry about this," he said. "Just being part of Penn State is a big honor."
As for Baublitz's mother, it was a well-received birthday present.
"She was pretty surprised, but she liked it."