Penn State officially announced the addition of 22 new members to its program on the first day of the early signing period, but there are still some players to keep a close eye on as the recruiting process moves to the next stage, which leads up to the traditional signing period at the beginning of February. Of the handful of players who backed off a prior commitment to Penn State, there are two who are still uncommitted to a program at the close of the early signing period. And Penn State could still be the leading candidate for at least one of them.
Wide receiver [autotag]Ejani Shakir[/autotag] will be a key player to watch in the coming months as James Franklin looks to add a little more depth to the wide receiver position. Two of the top positions Franklin stressed he would be focusing on in the next stage of the recruiting cycle and in the transfer portal was offensive line and wide receiver.
“I’d like to see us get another offensive lineman and then wide receiver,” Franklin said recently. “That’s a position where I could see us signing a couple more guys at that position just to make sure that we have the competition at that position on a similar scale that we do at tight end and running back. I think that’s going to be important for us moving forward.”
And this is why Shakir is a player to watch. Shakir, a key recruit out of New Jersey, was previously committed to Penn State but backed off his commitment in November for undisclosed reasons. Sometimes a player will do so because another program has caught their eye or the player simply feels he needs more time to feel truly comfortable with his college decision. It’s a normal part of the decision-making process, and sometimes, perhaps more often than not, a player who decommits from a program eventually lands with another when it comes time to announce a decision. But the early signing period breezed by without a commitment from Shakir, and the recruiting services still feel Penn State is the leader in the recruiting efforts.
The crystal ball page for Shakir on 247Sports has not been updated since before his commitment, which is why Penn State is still showing up with a 100% chance of landing his commitment, so this may not be the most accurate gauge right now. And the On3 recruiting prediction machine is still likely to be heavily influenced by a previous prediction made before Shakir’s commitment. So take those predictions for what they are at the moment; outdated data.
But it would make sense for Penn State to still have Shakir on the map as he is in the region that Penn State likes to call home and he fills a need at the receiver position. Unless there is more to the story, Shakir still ending up at Penn State would not be out of the question it would seem.
Reading the tea leaves through Shakir’s social media account doesn’t shed much light on the situation either though.
James "Franklin-ville" at Delsea! The Penn State head coach had the best seat in the house to watch Nittany Lions commit Ejani Shakir reel in a TD for Winslow!@ejani2thurlll @PennStateFball @coachjfranklin pic.twitter.com/fGiL2P35A9
— Jersey Sports Zone (@JSZ_Sports) September 10, 2022
As of the holiday weekend, there is no indication when Shakir may ultimately announce his decision, but this is a player to keep an eye on as Penn State looks to fill out the remaining pieces it can add in 2023.
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