The early signing period for football prospects in the Class of 2020 is upon us, and Penn State is expected to bring in a larger-than-usual class throughout the day. On the Penn State blog today, I’ll be breaking down each of the signees. Here is my scouting report on a former star receiver at Lackawanna College, Norval Black.
Penn State WR prospect and former Lackawanna College star Norval Black. PHOTO BY PENN STATE ATHLETICS
Height: 6-1
Weight: 180
School: Lackawanna College
Projected position: Receiver
Rating: Three stars by Rivals.com and 247sports
Other offers: None
Projection: Black attended a camp with the Nittany Lions last summer, got an offer, accepted it and knew his future was set. His coaches at Lackawanna were not surprised, either by the certainty of the commitment, or the fact that Penn State coaches fell in love with his skills so quickly. His numbers with the Falcons the last two years have been insane (25.9 ypc and 7 TDs last season) for good reason: At the junior college level, he’s practically uncoverable. He’s tall, quick out of the break and has great hands. He’s a tremendous athlete who was a basketball standout in high school, as well. There are some questions about whether his speed is elite or simply very good, and whether he can develop into the type of route-runner who can get open underneath in Penn State’s offense. But as a deep threat, he’s as good as it gets in the nation at the junior college level, and he doesn’t drop the ball. Penn State needs that type of player to plug into the offense, and he’ll get every chance to fill the Justin Shorter/Dan Chisena role in 2020.
Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for Times-Shamrock Newspapers since 2004. The Penn State Football Blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Contact: dcollins@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5368; @DonnieCollinsTT