Penn State quarterback target impressed by Lions offense, visit, more
Michael van Buren picked up his first FBS offer from Boston College back on New Year's Day, and Maryland followed suit in April.
The Class of 2024 recruit at Baltimore, Md., St. Frances College didn't receive another one for five more months, but it's safe to say the wait was worth it.
Michigan, Penn State, Temple, and Pittsburgh have all offered the 6-foot, 175-pound quarterback following an impressive performance for his high school side over California powerhouse De La Salle on ESPN2 last Friday.
All of those programs were tracking van Buren prior to his first varsity start, of course. The Nittany Lions even hosted him for an unofficial visit during the win over Villanova in late September.
There are always questions about a prospect that young, though, but a stellar performance that included four first-half touchdowns on a 16 of 19 night overall for 241 yards, according to MaxPreps, in the win out west helped solidify things. The Wolverines offered on Sunday, PSU did so on Monday, and the rest have come in since. More are certainly on the horizon.
"My recruitment is going well generally," van Buren told BWI. "To be honest, my coaches and mentors have always instilled in me and my teammates to control what we can control and to trust the process.
"Right now, I’m focused on doing well in school so I can actually get admitted to college down the road and getting better on the field with my guys on the team each week of our season."
van Buren said that many schools have reached out to his coaches over the weekend and so far this week, which means his recruitment is on the cusp of exploding if it hasn't already.
Penn State did its part to showcase all it has to offer during its aforementioned opportunity to host him, and the sophomore enjoyed the chance to see what Lions offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich's attack can do in person.
"Coach Yurcich’s high tempo and fast offense really interested me," van Buren said.
"The main thing that stood out was their ability to use all of their weapons as much as they can and their urgency and will to move the ball down the field no matter if it’s a short play to move the chains or it’s a home run play to score."
As for the visit itself?
"I loved the atmosphere and their family culture and the way everyone is so bought in," van Buren said.
All of that made the quarterback especially excited when a verbal offer came in bright and early from Penn State a few days ago.
"Penn State University is a great school and has a great college football environment," van Buren said. "My head football coach at St. Frances Messay Hailemariam, my mother, and mentors help lead my recruiting overall. Coach Messay spoke with the PSU coaches this [past] weekend. As I mentioned, Penn State is an outstanding school. I have been keeping up with the Lions for a little while now and I’ve seen all those guys that they’ve put in the NFL.
"I am honored and humbled that Coach Franklin and the staff at Penn State believe in me to possibly lead the team and be a student there one day."
Hailermariam has plenty of familiarity with Franklin and Penn State, as the school has recruited St. Frances for years, and one of its offensive tackles, Andre Roye, is already committed to the Lions. Four-star Class of 2022 linebacker Jaishawn Barham is also one of their top remaining targets.
van Buren can now count himself in that top target group, too, and while he can't sign for a long time, his early interest in and awareness of the Nittany Lions will only help them as his recruitment continues to evolve in the days and years ahead.
"Strengths of mine, I think, are my pocket awareness and vision down the field," van Buren said. "I’m constantly working on other critical parts like being efficient, pinpoint accuracy, and extending plays with my legs.
"For right now, I don’t have any set visits planned, but I am looking to go up to Michigan, go back to Penn State, and also make it to a Maryland game and a Boston College game."
They won't be his only future visits, of course, as the spotlight will continue to shine on the latest Mid-Atlantic underclassmen passer to know.
*******
• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated
• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98, @GregPickel, @ThomasFrankCarr
• Follow us on Instagram
• Like us on Facebook