Recruiting Q&A: OL Ibrahim Traore Opens up About Penn State Commitment

Penn State fans have become well-acquainted with the majority of the Class of 2020, but offensive lineman Ibrahim Traore is one of the few they haven't really gotten to know. Although he's been committed since September 2019, Traore hasn't opened up much with the media. Aside from a few small interviews dating back to before he committed, the New York City native has never opened up about his commitment to the Nittany Lions.

BWI's Ryan Snyder caught up with Traore this week for a two-part Q&A.

Ryan Snyder: Did you grow up in New York? And where do you actually live in the city?

Ibrahim Traore: I was born and raised in New York City. I always lived in South Bronx. I grew up a couple miles from Yankee Stadium.

Snyder: Do you play any other sports? What do you do in the off-season? Do you just train, or do you play any other sports?

Traore: I definitely lift and condition, but on top of that, I play lacrosse. I play long pole, defense. I originally went to Douglass Academy to play basketball. I never played football before. But then I started playing football, too, and I wasn’t really in tune with the basketball players coming from football season. So, I decided I wanted to do something else then, and the second-most-popular sport at our school was lacrosse. I tried it out and truth be told, I loved it right away. In lacrosse, you can just hammer guys with your long pole. I love that. Our school has an amazing organization called Harlem Lacrosse. It’s a nonprofit organization that funds trips and helps send kids to boarding schools. We have tutors and all of that. It’s such an amazing gift for all of us. Not a dime comes out of my pocket. It’s been great to me.

Snyder: What are a few of your hobbies? Tell me something that people probably don’t know about you.

Traore: Honestly, probably the one thing I do the most in my spare time is watch "Grey’s Anatomy" on Netflix. It’s taken me awhile, but I’m up to season 10 now. I used to watch this show called "Blacklist" on Netflix. While I was waiting for a new season of that, I was bored, so one day I just decided to check "Grey’s Anatomy" out. It became interesting and then I saw that the show had 18 seasons. So, I just became committed to it. Here I am, a year or so later. I’ve made it to season 10.

Snyder: I could go all day with you on your personality, but I have to ask about Penn State. Let’s start with this: When did you really start talking to Penn State? Did you talk to them much before you camped last July?

Traore: I was talking with Coach [Sean] Spencer the most. He was the recruiting coach for my region of New York. We were talking a good amount before the camp I attended. I was actually supposed to go to a camp before that [in June], but I couldn’t get a ride. Unfortunately, I had to cancel. There was a time when I never thought I would actually make it up to Penn State. They really wanted to see me in-person. Highlight films can only say so much.

Snyder: What was the mindset coming into Penn State’s camp last July? I know PSU was a school you really wanted an offer from.

Traore: Truth be told, when I’m sitting on the bus, probably four hours away from Penn State, I was nervous as hell. I’m thinking, "Oh man, my coach paid for all this, what if I go there and don’t get the offer? What if I end up screwing this up?" There were a lot of negative things running through my mind during that whole trip, but that’s because I really wanted that offer. When I got off the bus then and met Coach [James] Franklin and Coach Spencer and everyone, everything changed. Coach Franklin backed me up the whole time. He had faith in me and just wanted me to do my thing. Truth be told, when we were warming up and I’m looking around at all the other linemen there, I saw how many guys I was competing with. That’s when I just got focused and kept telling myself that I have to outwork all of these guys. When I finally got comfortable with what I had to do, I wouldn’t say I was laid-back, and I was still a little nervous, but I also knew I wasn’t leaving there without an offer. Once I got comfortable, I told myself that I've got this in the bag. I became so much more confident then.

Snyder: How excited were you to get that offer?

Traore: I was so pumped. When a coach that says he’s not going to offer you a scholarship because they want to see what you’re made of, and then they do offer you, that makes it so much more [rewarding]. I respect the coaches that do that, too. They took the time to really see how you play. That means so much more than someone offering over the phone after looking at your film. After offering me, I saw it as them really seeing me in their program. That really spoke to me.

Snyder: You took your time, though, and ended up committing about a month-and-a-half later. You didn’t take any visits during that time, so I’m wondering: Was Penn State always the clear favorite after you got the offer? Or were there a few other schools giving you something to think about?

Traore: I knew that once I got Penn State it was a done deal. If I didn’t get Penn State, I probably would have fallen back on Tennessee, Purdue or Rutgers.

Snyder: What made you wait then?

Traore: Well, Penn State wanted me to commit ASAP. I mainly just waited because I wanted to commit on my birthday, Sept. 24. I always was thinking that I’d blow out the candles on my birthday and surprise my family and friends with my commitment. That’s what I was thinking about doing, but then one day, I just kept thinking, "What am I waiting for?" So, on the day I committed, we ended up having a Friday night lights game and I just decided I was going to do it then.

Snyder: You put out your tweet to announce to everyone, but how did you go about announcing it to friends and family? Did you do anything special with them or your team?

Traore: I knew that once I put it on Snapchat, it would spread like wildfire, so that’s what I did. Before I walked into school, I put it on Snapchat. I then put it on Twitter a little later. That’s when my phone started buzzing nonstop. Everyone was reaching out to me, wishing me congratulations. After we won the game then that night, all my teammates put me in the middle and kind of jumped on me to congratulate me. We shut out the team we faced that night, too. It was a real good day.

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