UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the summer before his ever-important junior football season, when NFL Draft pundits pegged him as a potential first-round pick, Christian Hackenberg found solace on a basketball court.
Just across the street from Beaver Stadium in Penn State’s Intramural Building, Hackenberg and a handful of his football teammates joined a group of 25 students — who will worry about internships and job placement instead of NFL Draft stock — for 75 minutes every weekday afternoon for basketball class with instructor Michael Morse.
“At any point Christian could’ve overtaken the game, he could’ve kind of done whatever he wanted,” Morse said.