Penn State was dealt a couple of blows on the recruiting trail on Thursday with a pair of SEC schools capitalizing on the misfortune of the Nittany Lions. One of the recruiting headlines on Thursday focused on Class of 2023 quarterback Marcus Stokes, who flipped his commitment from Penn State to the Florida Gators.
“I would like to thank Penn State for supporting me, loving me, and showing the same to my family,” Stokes said in a released statement on his Twitter account on Thursday afternoon. “This decision was not the easiest to make. After taking time talking with my family and staying up late nights listening to my heart, I will be flipping my commitment to the University of Florida!”
Stoke originally committed to Penn State in early April, but rumors had grown that a potential flip could be in the works. Despite saying he was firmly committed to Penn State on June 28 while at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles, clearly there was a change of heart in the past week.
Penn State’s loss of Stokes will be a nice pickup for the Gators, who needed to grab a quality quarterback in its Class of 2023 after losing out on a key in-state target to the Miami Hurricanes. Class of 2023 quarterback Jaden Rashada committed to Miami over Florida despite reports suggesting he would have been in line for a larger NIL package if he went to Florida. Whether or not Stokes will receive a similar NIL incentive on the side remains to be seen, but it is something worth monitoring as Penn State continues to attempt to recruit a strong class while not having the same NIL fortunes other schools seem to have available.
Stokes is a Florida native, so he will be staying close to home with a program in the SEC that needed a quarterback. As for Penn State, the loss of a four-star passer will always sting a bit, but the severity of the blow is likely reduced thanks to the addition of Class of 2022 quarterback Drew Allar, who is expected to succeed [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] as the program’s starting quarterback. So, for Allar and Stokes, this could be a win-win situation for everybody involved.
My recruitment is completely shut downđđ𧥠#GoGators pic.twitter.com/ZQI7XHHQmn
— Marcus âJOKERâ Stokesđđ„· (@marcusstokes06) July 7, 2022
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