By Mike Loveday

I just got off the phone with Good Counsel defensive line coach Kevin McFadden who informed me that defensive back Mike Wallace committed to Penn State about five minutes ago.

Wallace took an official visit to Happy Valley over the weekend and the Nittany Lions made the offer. 

Wallace held offers from New Mexico, Maine, Stony Brook, Towson, Army, Bryant, Stanford and Monmouth. 

Other recruiting news and notes

Old Mill junior Josh Furman received his first official offer. The University of Maryland offered the 6-foot-2, 190-pound athlete.

It's been a busy week for Anne Arundel county. Arundel quarterback Billy Cosh received his first official offer last week. Kansas State offered the 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior set several state records last season - his first as a varsity starter.

Among the records he shattered are the most touchdowns in a season (56) and the most passing yards in a season with 3,909.

By Mike Loveday

Tuscarora Titans receiver Jakarie Jackson has made his college choice. The 6-foot, 195-pound athlete verbally committed to play for James Madison on Thursday Jan. 8, according to assistant coach Mike O'Brien.

Jackson played multiple positions for Tuscarora this season. The No. 3 receiver on MDVarsity.com's top uncommitted list  played receiver, defensive back, running back and took snaps from under center.

Jackson is the second Titan to commit to a Division I school this year. Defensive back Dominic Clarke committed to play for Ohio State before the season.

Update - It's been a crazy 24 hours as several Maryland athletes have made verbal commitments to colleges. The latest is Loyola receiver Brandon Floyd. The No. 1 uncommitted receiver on our list picked Georgetown University today.

Floyd is the third recruit to make his college choice in the last 24 hours. Gwynn Park's Raynard Randolph and DeMatha's Jeremiah Mathis both made their college decisions Sunday night.

Other recruiting news and notes

Good Counsel defensive back Mike Wallace will take an official visit to Penn State this weekend and will head to New Mexico next weekend, according to assistant coach Kevin McFadden. New Mexico is the latest school to make an official offer to Scouts Inc. No. 82 defensive back in the country.

Staying in the Good Counsel secondary, junior prospect Louis Young has decided to open up his recruiting. The ESPNU 150 player committed to Stanford back in October and he has not officially decommited from the Cardinal, but has opted to look at other colleges. 

Dunbar running back Davon Muse has offers from Central Michigan and Toledo. The senior captain will take an official visit to Toledo in the next week, according to head coach Lawrence Smith. 

Mike Loveday covers high school sports for ESPNRISE.com. Mike can be reached at Michael.Loveday@espn.com

By Mike Loveday

It seems fitting that Westlake's Devon Smith should receive an offer from Penn State. After all, Happy Valley is the place where the 5-foot-7, 140-pound athlete started to make a name for himself.

"It felt real good (receiving the Penn State offer). I was waiting for a long time. I was just waiting to get my ACT scores in," Smith said. "This is a big offer I was waiting for. Not that I'm going to rush in and commit. My coach (Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli) wants me to wait and visit all the schools that have offered for football and track."

Penn State offered Smith as a slot receiver. Smith holds offers to play football from Temple, Akron, Eastern Michigan and now Penn State, but also has offers from Kansas State, LSU and Florida.

So will the rising senior have to choose between the two sports?

"I would love to do both. All the coaches that have offered me I have asked if I can do both," Smith said. "But it won't make a difference. Football is my main sport. I do track for the fun of it."

Two years ago, Smith grabbed the attention of every coach at the Nike Penn State camp when he won the receiver MVP with his speed, quickness and hands. Then at Eleanor Roosevelt, Smith won the award over Forestville's Kevin Dorsey, who many analysts considered the No. 10 receiver in the nation.

Smith said he plans on making visits to Penn State when they play Oregon State on Sept. 6. He also plans to visit Temple at some point during the season.

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By Mike Loveday, editor

State College, Pa., is little more than a three-hour drive for most of the Maryland football players committed to Penn State University, but the ESPN Outside the Lines series profiling the trouble Penn State athletes have gotten into over the past six years must have hit a little closer to home.

Or did it?

Six Maryland high school football players are verbally committed to attend Penn State following their senior seasons and none of the players contacted seem concerned about the issues raised in the program.

"Me and my mother watched it. It didn't really have an affect on me because I know what I can do and what I'm going through, Eleanor Roosevelt's Derrick Thomas (pictured below) added. "It doesn't really change my mind at all. I still like Penn State and I'm still with it.

While that sentiment is shared by the other athletes, Thomas' mother did not agree.

"To see all that stuff happening there I really worry. At this point I don't really want him to go to that school. I know you can't run away because trouble is everywhere, but to see that they have a coach and a coaching staff that is not doing what they need to do to keep this stuff from happening it really worries me, Angela Thomas said. "I don't want my son to attend a school where there's no guidance. When he's away from me I want him to have a role model to keep him in line.

According to the OTL program, "since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts.

When asked if she was concerned about Thomas attending Penn State Mrs. Thomas replied, "I am. Honestly I am. I'm going to have to have a serious talk with him. I'm definitely not leaving it up to him. We all need to sit down and talk about this because I just want the best for my son. & I need to see what type of options he wants to have right now, because Penn State, to me, is not a good option.

Thomas added that his mother had expressed interest in him attending the University of Maryland before his commitment. Thomas chose Penn State over offers from Maryland, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Illinois.

Thomas is one of six Maryland athletes committed to Penn State. Eleanor Roosevelt teammate Stephon Morris, Oxon Hill's Brandon Felder, Lackey's Darrell Givens and Malcolm Willis and Gaithersburg's Sean Stanley have all committed to play for the Nittany Lions.

In fact, Penn State has received more commitments from Maryland players than from any other state so far. Five Pennsylvania athletes have given verbal commitments as of press time.

From those already committed, the allegations have little to no affect.

"Of course if you have a lot of students and players at one school getting into trouble it's going to make that school look bad, but you can't necessarily say that the school is a bad place. It just shows that those people chose to make the wrong decision, Givens said. "It's not really been a big deal to me. Once you're in college you're an adult. You're a grown female or male and you're old enough to make your own decisions. If you choose to make the wrong decision, that's on you.

The program seems to have raised so little interest in the athletes interviewed for this story that at least one, Felder, still has not seen it. Thomas chose to not watch the entire program and said he has no interest in seeing the rest of it.

While no names were mentioned in the OTL program, days later former Gwynn Park standout Phil Taylor was dismissed from the team. A name that Roosevelt defensive back Morris knows, which made the series more interesting for him, but did not make him waiver from his decision.

"My whole take on it was that I stay away from that type of trouble. When you go to college you should know the things you shouldn't be doing, Morris said.

What about the questions surrounding Paterno's job security? The 81-yeard old, who will enter his 43rd season as head coach and has compiled a win-loss record of 372-125-3, enters the last year of his contract and the release of the OTL information raises serious questions as to whether JoPa will return.

"I've been told that about his (Joe Paterno) contract. I've been watching ESPN College Gameday, they keep talking about it. I mean even if this is his last year, whether it's a successor, which I'd love to have, or if it's a brand new coaching staff, and then I guess I'm going to have to see, Morris added. "I'm going (to Penn State) because that's where I should be. It wasn't for any specific coach.

Bobbie Felder, the mother of Brandon Felder (pictured), also seemed unconcerned about the program.

"I honestly don't have a problem as far as these allegations that have gone on with Penn State, Mrs. Felder said. "Both my son and I believe in the program and I don't feel as though this is going to be a problem with my son's football career or academic career.

While each student-athlete comes from a different background and are spread out over several counties, they all expressed a single thought.

"At a lot of schools around the country things are going to happen, people make mistakes. It's not like it really affected me or changed my mind, Lackey's Malcolm Willis said. "There are places you can get in trouble around the world. You can live in the country with no trouble at all and you can mess up. It's about bettering yourself after you make that mistake.

Penn State has offers out to five more Maryland high school athletes: Dunbar's Tavon Austin, Gwynn Park's Raynard Randolph, Quince Orchard's Travis Hawkins and Jason Ankrah and Good Counsel's Jelani Jenkins.

So how will this impact the decision for potential commitments? At least one athlete said it will have none.

"That's not me. I know what kind of person I am and I won't be in situations like that, Randolph said. "That has nothing to do with me and has nothing to do with the school. That's outside of the school and what they did. & stuff like that happens everywhere. Unfortunately they were the ones to get caught. Penn State is still one of my favorites.

Randolph is said to be deciding between attending Penn State and Maryland.

As of press time, the other four athletes mentioned above along with Stanley were unavailable for comment.

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Email Mike at Mike.Loveday.ESPN@gmail.com