CB De'Jahn Warren Calls Penn State Offer 'Very Important'
Penn State became the latest school to extend a verbal scholarship offer to Lackawanna College cornerback De’Jahn Warren over the weekend.
Back in January, Warren visited University Park for the first time. In fact, it remains the only visit he’s taken to any school so far. Following the trip, which he called 'a great experience,' Warren said that he expected an offer to come once head coach James Franklin and assistant Terry Smith got to know him better. Just under a month later, that’s exactly what happened.
“They’ve been reaching out to me for a couple weeks now,” Warren said. “When they offered me, they were saying that they felt like they got to know me well enough now. The talk with Coach Franklin went real well. He was just saying that he’s excited to offer me. I was talking to Coach [Terry] Smith and Coach [V’Angelo] Bentley, too. They’re all good people.”
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Warren added that he’s enjoyed his talks with Smith over the past few weeks.
“We’ve been talking about a little bit of everything the past couple of weeks,” Warren said. “I think that’s good. I really feel like I got to know him better and he got to know me, too. We talked about my family, how I’m doing in school, how I’m handling the whole process. We went over everything.
"Coach Smith is a cool dude. I can talk to him about anything. We already have that bond.”
The Nittany Lions may have only offered on Saturday, but Warren said that Franklin and his assistants have been recruiting him harder than any other program so far.
“Penn State is the school I’m talking with the most. Between talking to me over the phone and all the mail, they’re definitely the school I’m in touch with the most,” Warren said.
“I would say that Maryland is probably next. I’m from Maryland, so they’ve been reaching out to me a good amount. Tennessee was my first offer and they’ve been recruiting me, too. I’d probably say those are the three that I talk with the most and have offered me. I also talk to Alabama a lot. They haven’t offered yet, but they call me frequently. I just talked to them [Sunday].”
If all goes to plan, Warren will check out those schools, plus Minnesota, this spring or in the summer. He doesn’t have a return visit set to Penn State yet, but he should be back in State College before the end of spring practice.
Once he’s able to visit a few other schools, Warren hopes to have a better feel for which programs are standing out the most. However, he also made it clear that the offer from Penn State already stands out.
“To be honest, this was a very important offer for me. This is a school I could see myself playing at,” Warren said. “I’ve wanted this offer for awhile. The atmosphere is great there and the coaches are real cool. I also talked to Norval [Black] and Ji’Ayir [Brown] about the offer. They were both real happy, telling me I have to come down there. There’s a lot that I like about Penn State, but I just have to trust the process and bet on myself."
In a previous interview, Lackawanna assistant coach Josh Pardini said that Warren's length and speed are two of his best assets.
“He’s fast. Like, get out of town fast,” Pardini said, referring to Warren. “Speed is the first thing that comes to mind, but he’s also pretty long. He’s pushing 6-1 and has a pretty good reach. He also has ball skills that makes me want to play him at wide receiver. But maybe most importantly, he just loves football. He’s great in practice. He really loves the sport and wants this opportunity. His success has a lot to do with how committed he is to improving himself and growing as a player.”
Warren will play one more season at Lackawanna before graduating in December. He'll have three seasons to play two at the Division I level.
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