Penn State Lands No. 29 Prospect Tommy Schutt, 4-star Wide Receiver Eugene Lewis

The Penn State Nittany Lions received verbal commitments from two 4-star prospects on Wednesday afternoon, which boosted their 2012 recruiting class to No. 15 in the country according to Rivals.com. 

The nation's No. 29 overall prospect and No. 5 defensive tackle Tommy Schutt (Glen Ellyn, IL) and No. 162 rated high school senior Eugene Lewis (Plymouth, PA) both pledged their commitment to the Nittany Lions. 

"I called up the coaches at Penn State (Wednesday) and committed," Schutt told EdgyTim.com. "Really my visit on Tuesday went great and after that trip I just felt totally comfortable with the coaches and the entire deal at Penn State. I'm really happy with my decision and so is my family." 

Schutt, who is also the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Illinois, is excited to become a part of Penn State's rich tradition and history. 

"It was really the entire deal for me at Penn State. I loved the school and the tradition and the coaches and the players," Schutt said. "I know I will also get a great education at Penn State and it really was just the best fit for me. I just love the place and it just all worked out great for me and I'm happy and excited." 

Meanwhile, Lewis made up his mind last week he wanted to become a Nittany Lion but decided to wait until Wednesday to make it official. 

"I pretty much figured it out sometime last week that this day was going to come," Lewis told Ryan Snyder of BlueWhiteIllustrated.com. "I talked to my dad about is so he already knew, I just didn't want to say anything ahead of time. But yeah, I got here today, saw campus, saw the stadium and then I went to practice." 

Waiting to commit during his unofficial visit to Happy Valley also gave Lewis the chance to tell legendary Penn State head coach Joe Paterno he wanted to be a Nittany Lion in person. 

"When I got to practice, Joe Pa came up to me and we talked for a bit," Lewis said. "I just told him that I was going to verbally commit today." 

Penn State's 2012 recruiting class now has six 4-star prospects and 14 total verbal commits. The Nittany Lions have the second best recruiting haul at the moment behind only the Michigan Wolverines, who are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the Rivals.com team rankings. 

The Nittany Lions may be able to add another 4-star recruit on Friday morning. Cornerback Armani Reeves (West Roxbury, MA) is set to decide between Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan at 10 a.m. Friday. 

The No. 187 overall recruit and No. 16 rated player at his position is expected to pick the Nittany Lions despite a late push by Michigan.

Additionally, the Nittany Lions found out they are still in the mix for both 5-star defensive end Noah Spence (Harrisburg, PA) and 4-star athlete Devin Fuller (Old Tappan, NJ), who both trimmed down their list of top schools Thursday. 

"I'm down to Penn State, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, NC State, USC, and Notre Dame," Spence told Mike Farrell of Rivals.com. "There's no order to them, those are just the seven I like the best." 

Fuller is the No. 37 overall prospect and says 11 schools are left in the fold for him as opposed to just seven remaining for Spence. Fuller is still considering Penn State, Rutgers, TCU, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Miami (FL) and Boston College. 

"It would be good to play for Coach Joe Paterno at Penn State and they've got a great coaching staff there," Fuller said. 

Alabama and TCU are recruiting Fuller as a defensive back, but the rest of his final 11 schools want him to play quarterback at the college level. 

Fuller is expecting to cut his list down to five schools in a few weeks, so keep checking out my weekly Big Ten recruiting updates to get the latest news on his recruitment.

Zach Dirlam is a Big Ten Columnist for the new website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story along with other articles and video reports on the major sports.

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