Top Penn State target talks recent visit, Lions' defense, and more
Penn State hosted numerous priority underclassmen targets for last weekend's win over Indiana, and the list included David Ojiegbe.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound three-star defensive end from Washington, D.C., St. John's College was impressed by what the Nittany Lions were able to show him before, during, and after the victory, which marked his first trip to campus since a stop in June during the earliest portion of the post-pandemic quiet period.
"We got to see a lot of people screaming and yelling, and the fans; it was crazy how many people there were, like 105,000 people there," Ojiegbe told BWI.
"That was crazy. It was very loud, it was a good atmosphere, and what stood out to me was how everybody was together at the game. The whole town felt shut down, and everybody was present at the game."
Ojiegbe is hearing plenty from Maryland, West Virginia, and Michigan and wants to visit Tennessee in the spring. He plans to see the Wolverines later this year for a game and is just glad to be back out on the road at all.
"It feels way better," Ojiegbe said. You can see the atmosphere of the schools and see what they bring to the table way better than last year. "COVID was hard because you really couldn't see the school and there were all sorts of virtual things going on, but the process is way better now."
In terms of what he learned at Penn State, the list is rather endless. Ojiegbe and his traveling party arrived slightly later than expected but still had a chance to connect with defensive line coach John Scott Jr., before the game and head coach James Franklin after it.
"The message has been about family," Ojiegbe said. "It was a good visit. I got to see a game, a great atmosphere, and so it felt good to see everybody together and playing, and just how many people had at the game was crazy. It just shows how much of a family they are and how their culture is."
And what did he think of the team on the field?
"They were very aggressive," Ojiegbe said. "They go after the quarterback, they never give any time to sit back and make his reads. It was good to guys get to the ball and being aggressive and rallying to the ball, and the offense is creative and gets the ball to the best players."
Ojiegbe has five sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble to date for St. John's, which is unbeaten and hopes to win a title. The junior will focus mostly on that in the days and months ahead, but he'll also spend some time trying to figure out where he wants to go to college, and Penn State is firmly in the mix.
"I just want to brotherhood; a family, basically, and like culture, that wants to be better, and get a better degree, and be better at the next level," he said.
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