Penn State got a jumpstart on a mid-June weekend feeling good. Class of 2023 defensive lineman [autotag]Tyriq Blanding[/autotag], one of the top recruits from New York, moved up his original commitment date to announce he has decided to commit to Penn State and cancel his scheduled official visit to Michigan. Not a bad way for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] to head into the weekend.
The latest addition to the Class of 2023, which comes the same week the Nittany Lions had a commitment flip his decision to Georgia, resulted in a slight uptick in the national recruiting rankings. And, once again, Penn State sits atop the rest of the Big Ten in the Class of 2023 for the time being.
According to the updated 247Sports composite rankings, which were updated shortly after Blanding’s announcement, Penn State now owns the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation. Only Notre Dame (No. 1) and Texas Tech (No. 2) currently sit ahead of the Nittany Lions in the Class of 2023. Penn State jumped ahead of Cincinnati (No. 4) and Northwestern (No. 5) following the latest update to the composite rankings. Penn State was previously ranked No. 5 earlier in the week after losing [autotag]Joshua Miller[/autotag]’s commitment to Georgia.
There was some other movement in the recruiting rankings within the top 10 just in the past few days. Ohio State moved from No. 6 down to No. 8 while Georgia moved up from No. 9 to No. 7. Clemson is sitting at No. 6 and Arkansas and Michigan State round out the current top 10.
Time will tell just how high Penn State’s recruiting class remains as the recruiting calendar continues to play out. As a reminder, there is a long way to go and there are some recruiting heavyweights who have yet to really hit their stride. For example, Alabama is currently ranked No. 47 in the updated recruiting rankings, below Illinois and Vanderbilt. That won’t stay that way.
But regardless, Penn State continues to look to be in a solid position to follow up a high-quality Class of 2022 with a very respectable Class of 2023.
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