Three-star linebacker/tight end Alex Silvestro (6-4, 225, 4.5), from Paulsboro High School in Paulsboro (N.J.), has offers from West Virginia, Rutgers, Tennessee and Minnesota. Penn State is one of his top two favorites but the Nittany Lions haven't offered yet.
Silvestro favors West Virginia and Penn State slightly over Rutgers, Tennessee and Minnesota. He's looking to stay close to home and insists he wants to play as a freshman.
"This weekend, starting November 25, I will be visiting a school each week," Silvestro said. "My first official visit will be to West Virginia. This is the only school that is recruiting me for tight end. Coach Rich Rodriguez is calling me every week to persuade me to play for the Mountaineers. He's also the first coach I met at camp. I also like Coach Phil Galiano (defensive ends). He has a great defensive style and is an aggressive coach.
"Rutgers was the first to offer, my junior year, and is recruiting me the hardest. My Rutgers visit is scheduled for December 4. My parents like the fact that it's close to home and my father will be attending all my official visits with me.
"My father hasn't really said which school he favors, but I know we'll have a discussion after the visits," Silvestro said. "He would have liked to see me play baseball, since it's a less physical sport with a higher paycheck.
"Penn State coach Joe Paterno says that even though I currently don't have an offer from them I can expect one if I choose to go play for the Nittany Lions. I met coach Paterno at camp and he liked how I played. They had already made offers to defensive recruits but mentioned that one of the offers they made looked like it was going to fall through. Should that happen, I would be given that offer. My official visit to Penn State is scheduled for December 11.
Scout.com's No. 17 linebacker is a versatile player. He needed to learn to play both offense and defense, as most of the players are taught at his small school (115 student senior class).
Silvestro is also an outstanding wrestler (4th in state) and baseball player (all-conference).
Partial senior season (9-1, in playoffs) stats: 85 tackles/7 sacks
He reports a 3.6 core GPA and an 970 SAT.