In the mailbag for SI.com writer Stuart Mandel, there was an interesting response to what seems like the ongoing question: What happened to Penn State?

Obviously, the easy target is Joe Paterno’s age, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Play-calling, philosophy, game-management — these things are insect bites. The real disease is recruiting.

Simply put, Penn State no longer recruits at a national-powerhouse level. Period. But it’s deceiving.

Every year, Penn State starts near the top of the recruiting rankings — TheInsiders.com currently lists them No. 1 — but by February, they’re nowhere to be found. Why? Because they give out the large majority of their scholarships to kids who are willing to commit before their senior year. In doing so, they’re missing out on the growing number of elite players who wait until January or February to announce their decision. Michigan, for example, had as many SuperPrep All-Americas in its most recent recruiting class as Penn State has on its entire roster.

“You don’t see Penn State hanging on in the latter stages of these recruiting races for difference makers,” said SuperPrep publisher Allen Wallace, who’s ranked four of PSU’s last five classes outside the nation’s top 10. “People like [Michigan safety and Pennsylvania native] Marlin Jackson.”

Clearly, the Nittany Lions need to revise their recruiting strategy. Unfortunately, it’s safe to say that nothing will change as long as Paterno is the coach. Not that it’s solely his fault, but when one man has control over literally every aspect of the program, it’s hard to imagine his staff effecting any real change.

This is a really good point. The usual explanations for recruiting that I’ve heard have been: the move to the Big 11 backfired for PSU — they thought this would allow them to recruit more from the midwest, but instead Michigan and TOSU have been raiding in Pennsylvania; Pitt’s resurgence has added competition for players (gee, that it wasn’t a problem in the 70s and 80s); other schools stress JoePa’s age when they come calling (funny that it doesn’t seem to hurt Bobby Bowden); and bad karma for ending the annual Pitt-Penn St. game.

Paterno doesn’t want to hold scholarships up until the end. He doesn’t want to compete for players on the fence. He’d rather know his roster for next season by November, than wait on a player.

Fastbreak recruiting is good when you are a program trying to build (or rebuild) or if you are a mid-major. After a point though, if you have succeeded in building the program, you have to be willing to hold off on some scholarships for the really big recruits who are basically trying to figure out where they can maximize and showcase themselves for the NFL. I look forward to the day when Pitt is at that point.

Pitt just landed a big verbal commitment for the 2004 recruiting class. A shooting guard that is already being labeled the heir apparent to senior Julius Page.

[Keith] Benjamin, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard renowned for his gravity-defying dunks, chose the Panthers after originally committing to Villanova. He also received offers from Providence, St. John’s and Seton Hall.

“He jumps to the moon,” said Mt. Vernon coach Bob Cimmino, whose school sits 10 minutes outside of the Bronx. “He’s a high-wire act. It’s a gift.”

Rated the No. 57 player in the country by HoopScoop and the No. 19 shooting guard by Athlon magazine, Benjamin averaged 18 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists last season while shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. His high school team is 51-3 the past two years, including 26-1 last season.

He backed out of ‘Nova because they have major depth at the guard position, while he stands a shot at starting at Pitt. Pitt has 2 other scholarships to offer for the 2004 class.