UNIVERSITY PARK
On Jan. 24, 2014, Koa Farmer and his parents flew from California to Philadelphia, drove a rental car to State College after nine inches of snow canceled their connecting flight and arrived in time for an official visit. Over dinner, in a suite overlooking a snow-covered Beaver Stadium, recently-hired head coach James Franklin pitched the Farmers and other recruits’ families on Happy Valley — the academics, tradition, vision, all of it.
“I was like, there’s no way in heck we’re getting this kid,” Franklin remembered, thinking back on that pesky canceled flight. “And then he said yeah.