Penn State is transitioning into the official visit portion of their calendar as they need a strong close to secure one of the best classes in the 2025 cycle.
Because of that, the majority of attention will be on the top targets still on [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his coaching staff’s board as they currently sit with just 13 commits.
There are plenty of positions that need to be filled in this class, but that’s not stopping them from putting attention and resources into the 2026 recruiting class.
One player who is already a standout is [autotag]Kendre Harrison[/autotag].
The no. 1 rated tight end in his cycle is a 6-foot-7, 245-pounder from North Carolina who is a five-star in 247Sports’ composite rankings. Listed as the sixth-best player in the class, his recruitment has already gone national.
There is one interesting thing that comes with the recruitment of Harrison, however.
He wants to play football and basketball in college.
The coveted recruit told Anna Adams of 247Sports that he plans on playing at least one year of college basketball but will use his scholarship towards the football numbers as that will take precedent over everything else (subscription required).
As a North Carolina native, he’s taken tons of visits to that campus and has been in communication with both their football and basketball programs. Harrison has also spoken with former Tar Heel great, Julius Peppers, about the decision to play both sports at the collegiate level.
According to the tight end recruit, it doesn’t matter if the basketball program of the college he commits to is good or not as he just wants to make sure he laces up sneakers on the hardcourt at some point.
Penn State jumped onto his radar after he was impressed with their White Out.
Harrison also has a connection to the Nittany Lions as his brother’s friend is cousins with former tight end [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag] of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s unknown if head basketball coach [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] has been in contact with the multisport star yet, but this would certainly be an opportunity for Rhoades and Franklin to work together and get something done.
This will certainly be an interesting recruitment process as there are more things to navigate beyond the football aspect of things.