Penn State has landed its first verbal commitment for its 2013 recruiting class since the football program was hit with severe sanctions by the NCAA.

Jordan Smith, a 5-foot, 10-inch, 180-pound defensive back from Woodson High School in Washington, verbally committed to the Nittany Lions over the weekend. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson was the point man in recruiting Smith.

Smith is rated a three-star recruit (on a five-star scale) by ESPN and a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. He was not rated by Scout.com. He reportedly also had offers from Kansas, Illinois, Colorado and Buffalo.

Penn State now has 10 verbal commitments in its 2013 recruiting class. Since PSU was sanctioned by the NCAA, the Nittany Lions had lost four players who had previously committed to the school.