Penn State has been trending in the right direction for multiple prospects on the defensive line. As it currently stands, there is only one defensive lineman currently committed to Penn State in the class of 2024.
[autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and first year defensive line coach [autotag]Deion Barnes[/autotag] are looking to change that as they’ve ramped up their focus on top targets.
One of these targets is four-star [autotag]Benedict Umeh[/autotag] out of Toronto, Canada. Umeh plays his high school football in Connecticut and is considered the best prospect in the state.
On3’s industry rankings have him rated as a consensus four-star prospect, the 10th best defensive lineman and 62nd best player in the entire class of 2024. On3 themselves are much higher on Umeh, rating him as the 29th best player in the country.
Now, 247Sports’ Crystal Ball seems to think that Penn State will land the coveted 6’5″ 240 pound defensive lineman coming out of his official visit on June 16th.
Had the best time on my official visit at Penn State this weekend! Thanks to everybody @PennStateFball for their hospitality towards me and my family, especially @coachjfranklin, @ZemaitisTouch_, @DBarnes_18, @CoachCollins46, and @djbryant13 🤞🏿🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/M0iF2NSXUi
— Benedict Umeh 🇳🇬 (@benedict_umeh) June 18, 2023
Umeh has also taken official visits to Wisconsin and Duke, with an official visit scheduled to Stanford on June 23rd.
Despite that, 247Sports’ National Recruiting Analyst, Brian Dohn, predicts Penn State will get a commitment from the four-star defensive lineman. This looms large because Dohn is a perfect 48 for 48 on his predictions in the 2024 class.
Umeh would be a monster signing for Penn State. There’s a chance he could turn into a five-star prospect and give the Nittany Lions their highest rated player in the class.
In addition to that, this would be a huge boost for defensive line coach Barnes in his first recruiting cycle. Landing a player of Umeh’s caliber would be a great sign going forward for what type of players Barnes can get into the program.
There has not been a commitment date set by Umeh as of now.
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