CHICAGO (MCT) — The recruitment of Penn State’s current players by other coaches was a hot topic Thursday at Big Ten football media day, so hot that Illinois head coach Tim Beckman sought to set the record straight on his team’s involvement with the Nittany Lions during his opening remarks.

It was reported that six assistant coaches of the Fighting Illini were in State College to talk to players and actually had crossed paths Wednesday with Lions coach Bill O’Brien at the airport. But Beckman insisted that they never set foot on campus.