The second installment of the Sun series, Recruiting Tavon Austin, ran in today's paper. In this edition, the Dunbar running back recounts a recent visit to Penn State.

The coaching staff talked to me and introduced themselves to my mother. I talked to coach Joe Paterno, and he always shows me love when I go there. He talks about grades and stresses that I keep them up. They also said that no spots on the team are guaranteed, so if I show up to practice and perform well, I could play early.

• Rivals.com updated its 2009 rankings this week, and Good Counsel linebacker Jelani Jenkins saw his ranking rise significantly.

Jenkins, a 6-foot, 203-pound linebacker with offers from nearly every major program in the country, was previously No. 79. Jenkins, who also runs track, has tremendous speed, plays downhill and loves to hit. While he plays running back on offense as well, his future is clearly as a game-changing linebacker. Jenkins recently took an unofficial visit to Penn State, and the Nittany Lions, Boston College, Maryland, Virginia and many others are high on his list.

• This news is a little dated, but Norcross, Ga. athlete D.J. Adams had good things to say about Maryland in an interview with Scout.com last week.

Adams already attended junior days at Maryland and Clemson. "I liked the location of Maryland a lot," he said. "It's close to DC and that's the farthest north I've ever been. I see their program being on the rise and the coaches are great. They have a lot going for them. The weather there is also pretty good and I just had a good experience there."

• According to this update from The [Charleston, S.C.] Post and Courier, Maryland has offered several South Carolina prospects. The above-linked article has updates on offensive lineman Brandon Thomas, defensive end Tariq Edwards and defensive end Sam Montgomery. The article also has tidbits on North Carolina linebacker Hawatha Bell and Delaware wide receiver Justin Brown.

• Ashburn (Va.) Stone Bridge defensive end Zach Thompson claimed early offers from Maryland, Boston College, N.C. State, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest and West Virginia. Earlier this week, Thompson ended his recruitment, committing to the Demon Deacons.

"We kept going back and forth between Virginia and Wake," Mickey Thompson said. "And he just felt a little more comfortable with the smaller campus and all that kind of stuff.

"He was adamant that he liked both places, but he definitely wanted to go to Wake."

• The Washington Post’s latest installment of Recruiting Spotlight takes a look at Roosevelt (D.C.) defensive end/tight end Darin Drakeford. The Post reports that Maryland and Illinois have offered Drakeford. Click here to see the video.

Programming note: I’ll be out of town until Tuesday, so updates until then will either be spotty or non-existent.