German DT Joseph Darkwa commits to Penn State
Penn State went international to fill a need at defensive tackle, as Dusseldorf, Germany, native Joseph Darkwa announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions Friday.
A 6-foot-5, 272 pound three-star prospect, Darkwa didn't earn an offer from the Lions until Jan. 9, but he had been speaking with recruiting assistant Justin King since November. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer, who coached Darkwa's trainer, Brandon Collier, during his time at UMass, became involved as time went on. Spencer's relationship with Collier, along with Darkwa's official visit to State College this past weekend, played a major role in the German ending up in Happy Valley.
"I committed to Penn State because of the culture there. Everyone knows the football is great, but everyone I talked to on my visit wanted to be successful in life," Darkwa said. "That's very important to me because if everyone around you is working hard it's contagious."
Towson became the first college program to offer Darkwa a scholarship in August. Rutgers then hosted him for an official visit in early December, but it was actually Virginia who offered him an FBS scholarship first. Georgia Tech, Rutgers and UConn all followed before the end of the early signing period.
Darkwa considered committing to Rutgers during the early period, but he decided to hold off. It proved to be a good decision, as Cincinnati, Indiana and UCLA all offered at the end of December. Colorado and Penn State then offered in the beginning of January.
While Darkwa was born in Germany, his parents moved there from Ghana not long before he was born. He grew up playing soccer, but according to Richie Schnyderite of TheKnightReport.net, Darkwa became interested in American football after watching the movie "The Longest Yard."
“I think like 7 years ago, I watched the movie "The Longest Yard" and wanted to play,” Darkwa told Schnyderite. “At the time my mother wasn’t that excited about the idea of me playing football. So back in 2015 I just went to one of the local teams practices and here I am.”
No long after, Darkwa began working with Collier, who runs PPI Recruits, a European based group of trainers that work with players hoping to play collegiately in the United States. In recent years, they've helped European players earn scholarships at Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Temple and Virginia.
“He plays for Dusseldorf’s youth team, the Dusseldorf Panthers," Collier said during a previous interview. "They’re one of the top two programs out here. He knows the game well. He’s been playing for about five years now and he’s been coached up pretty well, too. He’s a smart player and he loves the game.
“He’s a long kid and is a legit 6-5 and close to 270 pounds. He has great hips and great length. I really believe that he has the athleticism to play in the NFL one day. I really do. Of course, he has to get the coaching that he’ll get at one of these big programs and maybe even more important, he needs to get into a strength program. He still needs to add some upper-body strength, but once he gets into a weight program, he’s going to cause some problems for people. He can carry 290 pounds and still bring the athleticism that he has.”
Darkwa helped lead Dusseldorf to back-to-back appearances in the Junior Bowl, which is the championship game for the German Football League Juniors. The Panthers fell to Padderborn in both 2017 and 2018, but Darkwa was named MVP following this year’s game. He earned a three-star rating by Rivals.com.