Jerry Sandusky Sex Scandal: Why Top Recruits Will Never Forgive Penn State

Tragedy has struck Penn State with the allegations against Jerry Sandusky, but lost in all of the outrage is how the Nittany Lions will be affected in recruiting. 

Sandusky allegedly used the charity program as a cover to molest young children, and apparently some of these crimes happened in the Penn State locker rooms. 

In 2002, a graduate assistant (Mike McQueary) witnessed Sandusky and a young boy in the showers, but instead of calling the police, he told head coach Joe Paterno, who just passed along the information instead of taking action.

Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz have stepped down from their positions after being charged with perjury and failure to report.

Sandusky was retired at the time, but still a prominent figure around the campus. Players knew who he was, but if they had only known who he truly was then things may have been different. 

The Nittany Lions are currently ranked No. 18 in ESPN's top college football recruiting classes, with 16 total commits and two in the ESPNU Top 150.  

One of the Nittany Lions' top recruits is staying firm with Penn State at this time, according to Brendan Hall of ESPN. 

All of their verbal commitments still have plenty of time to change their minds about where they will be playing football next year, and it's likely that somebody decides to play elsewhere.

Of course, these players will wait to see what action is taken against Paterno and the school, but there is no doubt that they are in shock just like everyone else. 

Penn State may be able to hang onto those recruits that have committed, but trying to bring in some new elite ones will be difficult, especially if something were to happen to Paterno. 

The No. 2 defensive end and No. 4 overall recruit in the ESPNU 150, Noah Spence, is from Pennsylvania, and it would be a huge splash for the Nittany Lions to land such a talented player in their home state. 

However, amidst this scandal, Spence took to Twitter to voice his opinion. 

The account isn't verified, but it appears to be him, as ESPN's Joe Schad and Kipp Adams both follow him. 

How coaches and administrators could lie and cover this scandal up to protect their program instead of a child is just sickening, and so many people feel the exact same way. 

The future of the Nittany Lions program will suffer because of this scandal, and it won't be easy to recover.