Penn State Football Recruiting 2012: Which Recruits Will Stay and Which Will Go?

We all know the situation at hand in Happy Valley, and really it is a disturbing one. But with the focus being on the recruiting aspect of things, we'll keep the attention there in that light.

Naturally with any situation or coaching change, the recruiting class is impacted. Rumors persist and de-comitment talks heat up. 

For this read, we're going to take a look at the Penn State 2012 class and see if any recruits are leaving, as one already has.

2012 Penn State Recruiting Class Capsule

Penn State has surged in the past few months on the trail. August was a big month for the Nittany Lions' 2012 recruiting efforts.

They've gotten top-tier players like WR Eugene Lewis, DT Tommy Schutt and DB Armani Reeves—all in August.

Happy Valley has 16 commits and another player I really like in this class is Camren Williams, a speedy, athletic and rangy 6'2", 200-pound OLB.

O'Connor Leaves the Lions Den

4-star OG prospect Joey O'Connor has de-committed from Penn State. O'Connor says he is re-starting his process and considering Colorado, Arizona, ASU, Tennessee, UCLA, Colorado State and Utah.

Penn State will still get a look, but with O'Connor sounding like he was committed to Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions may be a long shot now.

Could more be prepared to bolt from PSU?

Lewis Still Down for PSU

During the week of the scandal, Eugene Lewis decided he would attend the game vs. Nebraska, to which he did. Lewis wanted to show his support for his future program and just be there for pride.

So I would mark Lewis down as a player that isn't going anywhere. Showing up at the school only days after Joe Pa had been fired only reaffirms his commitment.

Schutt Looking Around

According to Rivals.com, 4-star DT commit Tommy Schutt may be a player that opts to look around. Schutt's commitment to Penn State was a bit of a surprise to me, but he has stuck with it since the summer.

Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Ohio State, Florida, Nebraska and Wisconsin were schools that had offered Schutt before he pledged to PSU.

Look for him to kick the tires on a few schools to gage their interest and maybe make some trips.

Has Noah Spence Cooled on Penn State?

Spence took a visit to Happy Valley a few motnhs ago and came away very impressed by PSU. He was talking them up so much that I was even starting to think he was a Lion-lean.

But now, it look as though maybe PSU is out of the race.

Spence has a top list that also includes USC, Florida, Notre Dame, Maryland, North Carolina and NC State.

In Conclusion...

As it sits right now, for the most part, the top tier portion of the recruiting class has a chance to stay in tact. But, to be honest, that probably will change.

Let's face it, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty over the PSU program and that is a huge no-no for keeping a recruiting class together. So while Eugene Lewis looks solid, I do expect a couple other recruits to join Joey O'Connor by de-committing.

Plus, this class doesn't even know who's going to be their coach next year. Chances are, the coach that is recruiting them now, won't even be there in a few months. 

So changes are coming to the shape of the 2012 Penn State recruiting class.