Tag: Brandon Finney

Penn State hosting coveted flip target Andrew Olesh this Saturday

Penn State will be hosting a key recruiting target on Saturday when Ohio State comes to town.

Penn State is working hard to finish off their 2025 recruiting class strong. There are some indications that they will pull off one of their biggest flip targets in [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] as multiple recruiting insiders are predicting that to happen.

The Nittany Lions won’t be able to celebrate until that becomes official, but things are trending in the right direction for them to land one of the best cornerback prospects in the cycle.

Speaking of coveted prospects they are looking to flip, Penn State is still not giving up on in-state tight end recruit [autotag]Andrew Olesh[/autotag] after he disappointingly announced his commitment to Michigan back in early-July.

That process seemed to be pretty well shut, however, the No. 2 overall player in the state of Pennsylvania and the third-best tight end in the country has seemingly started to waver on his decision based on him visiting other schools.

Most recently, Olesh took a trip to Oregon. That came on the heels of him visiting Alabama.

And now, the four-star prospect is returning to Penn State on Saturday for the first time since his official visit on June 14.

Based on comments made by his father, George, to Steve Wiltfong of On3, this weekend will go a long way in deciding if the Nittany Lions can flip the coveted tight end. He mentioned how they initially were monitoring to see how this new offense would look under Andy Kotelnicki, and while the family has been impressed with how Tyler Warren has been used, they are still waiting to see if “Penn State able to get over the hump” by beating Ohio State (subscription required).

The decision might not be so simple as yes or no based on the result coming out of Saturday, but winning the game would go a long way for the Nittany Lions in this recruitment.

Penn State seems to be on the verge of flipping Brandon Finney

Is Penn State football on the verge of flipping this key recruiting target?

There could be some good news coming down the chute for Penn State on the recruiting trail in the 2025 class.

After already flipping one of their targets from the group who was on campus for the UCLA game when Josh Johnson announced his decision to commit to the Nittany Lions, it seems like they are on the verge of pulling off another one.

Chad Simmons of On3 just logged an expert pick where he has elite four-star cornerback [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] flipping from Oregon to Penn State.

This is a huge development for the Nittany Lions in this cycle as the McDonogh School prospect is someone who was at the top of their target board throughout his recruitment. Multiple insiders said [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff were surprised when he committed to the Ducks, but that did not stop them from continuing to pursue him.

Ranked as the 55th-best player in the 2025 class by On3’s Industry Ranking and a five-star by 247Sports’ personal ratings, Finney would be the best recruit for Penn State in that cycle.

After Penn State was able to get him back on campus for the UCLA game, all signs pointed to things starting to turn in their direction. However, they had to overcome the hurdle of him getting back to Eugene for the massive showdown Oregon had against Ohio State.

That could have ended things if he felt like that was the place for him, but even after taking in that experience, his comments suggested he was still considering the Nittany Lions.

Well, it’s starting to seem like Penn State is going to get this one home eventually.

Penn State is still in the mix for elite 2025 recruit Brandon Finney

Penn State is hoping to flip this Oregon commit in the Class of 2025.

While the Penn State coaching staff is certainly using this bye week to get prepared for Wisconsin so the team doesn’t have a letdown following their huge road win over USC last Saturday, they are also using this time to focus on some recruiting targets.

There are plenty of players [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his coaches are looking to secure in the 2025 cycle, evident by the number of flip targets they hosted for the UCLA game.

One of those players is elite four-star cornerback [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag], someone they thought surely would already be part of their class before he made a shocking announcement that he had committed to Oregon.

But despite that disappointing news, they have not given up hope that he will eventually change his mind and become a Nittany Lion.

They accomplished the first step by getting him back on campus to see a game, and while some intel suggested that visit went extremely well, Finney traveled to Oregon to see their matchup against Ohio State that could have solidified his decision.

However, it sounds like he is still open to the possibility of changing his commitment.

Finney told Chad Simmons of On3 that, while he’s still committed to Oregon, he’s still looking at other schools and specifically mentioned Penn State. His reason for that stems from the relationships he has built with the staff and that he has been a “priority” for them throughout his recruitment (subscription required).

That is huge news for the Nittany Lions.

While nothing changed on his commitment standing, the fact that he came out of that environment where Oregon beat one of the best teams in the country and he’s still not totally locked in means Penn State has a real shot to flip him before National Signing Day.

Ranked as the 55th-best player in the 2025 class and No. 6 at his position per On3’s Industry Ranking, he would become the best prospect for the Nittany Lions in this cycle.

If they’re able to complete this flip by battling one of the most NIL-rich programs in the country, that would be a massive win for Penn State on the recruiting trail.

Where does Penn State stand with 2025 recruit Brandon Finney?

Will Penn State be able to flip this key recruiting target from another Big Ten program?

Penn State has done a good job in the 2025 recruiting class, but there are still some prospects they would like to add so they feel really good about what they accomplished in that cycle.

One of those recruits is [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag].

The elite four-star cornerback who is ranked as the No. 90 player overall in the class and the 10th-best player at his position per On3’s Industry Ranking, is certainly someone [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff feel got away when he surprisingly committed to Oregon.

Finney plays his high school football at McDonogh School in Maryland, a program that has become a virtual feeder school to Penn State with many of their best players winding up in Happy Valley.

It seemed like the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder would follow a similar path, but four days after he took an official visit to Eugene on June 21, he announced his commitment to Oregon.

But, that’s not stopping the Nittany Lions from continuing to go after him, and they made a huge first step this past weekend when they were able to get him back on campus for the first time since May 31 when he took a trip in an official capacity.

Sean Fitz of BlueWhiteIllustrated broke down everything that surrounds his potential flip status (subscription required), but here are the latest updates regarding when Penn State stands.

From a broad perspective, it doesn’t seem like Finney is leaning towards decommitting from Oregon at this point in time, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t actively taking trips to schools. He’s still taking visits, including one to Michigan in November that is official, and will be in Eugene to see the Ohio State game this weekend.

There’s a chance that solidifies his commitment and he shuts down all the trips he’s scheduled to take. Penn State is trying to get him back for the White Out Game on Nov. 9 since his high school is playing when the Nittany Lions host the Buckeyes the weekend before.

They’re hoping Finney continues to weigh his options beyond this weekend since they still view him as a crucial part of this class if they were able to land him.

Fitz thinks this one is still far from being finished, but Penn State will have their work cut out for them.

Multiple flip candidates were on campus for Penn State’s win over UCLA

Will Penn State’s win over UCLA lead to any of these commits to flipping to PSU?

Penn State remained undefeated by beating UCLA on Saturday, but the sleepy performance didn’t exactly put up a dominating difference on the scoreboard.

Not having [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] available like they expected prior to the game certainly changed some things, and with the massive USC matchup coming up next, it was understandable why they might have just tried to get out of this one by not showing too much on both sides of the ball.

Ultimately, the Nittany Lions accomplished that goal, never really having to break a sweat against the Bruins that now allows them to put their full attention on a Trojans team who is coming off an upset against Minnesota.

Perhaps the most interesting thing for Penn State this past weekend occurred off the field regarding many of their flip targets in the class of 2025 who were on campus.

Per Tyler Calvaruso of 247Sports, South Carolina wide receiver commit [autotag]Lex Cyrus[/autotag], elite Oregon cornerback commit [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag], Duke linebacker commit [autotag]Bradley Gompers[/autotag], and surprise Louisville cornerback commit [autotag]Josh Johnson[/autotag] all made their way to Happy Valley to take in this game (subscription required).

These four prospects represent who [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his coaching staff are going to heavily pursue to close out the 2025 cycle.

Cyrus has long been a target of the Nittany Lions, and his decision to commit to South Carolina was shocking to many inside the program and inside his own family. They are not going to give up on him until he officially signs with the Gamecocks.

Similarly, Johnson was seen as someone who was going to commit to Penn State before his recruitment took a turn out of nowhere and gave his verbal to Louisville.

Finney is someone the Nittany Lions would love to add to this class, and when he committed to Oregon that was a real kick to the stomach since he’s from the McDonogh School that’s been a borderline feeder program to Penn State. However, getting him on campus for the first time since his June official visit could be a good sign his options are still open considering he’s been traveling around to other schools as well.

Gompers has picked up a ton of internal steam, offering him a scholarship last month and getting him on campus for the first time. There’s a real possibility that he could flip in Penn State’s direction.

If Franklin and his staff can pull off even one of these flips, that would be a huge win. Anything more than that would be an incredible turn of events for this 2025 class that has some holes in it and could be bolstered by landing multiple prospects who just visited this past Saturday.

Report: Four-star athlete Brandon Finney commits to Oregon

One of the top athletes in the Class off 2025, Brandon Finney out of Maryland, has chosen the Ducks over Penn State and Ohio State.

The Class of 2025 for the Oregon Ducks football program is getting stronger and stronger as the summer goes on.

According to a report from On3.com, the Ducks just received a huge commitment from 4-star athlete/defensive back Brandon Finney. Whether Finney remains in the secondary is still unanswered, but Oregon has plenty of time to make that kind of decision.

Finney is from Owings Mills, Maryland, and is considered the No. 4 prospect in that state, according to 247sports.com. He’s 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds. Finney is the No. 25 corner in the country and has a composite score of 0.9221.

He had plenty of options before choosing the Ducks. Finney had offers from such schools as Penn State, Ohio State, and South Carolina.

Penn State’s top remaining CB target sets commitment date

One of Penn State’s key recruiting targets is set to announce his commitment soon. Where does Penn State sit in the competition?

Penn State was able to land two cornerbacks a week apart when top 100 player Daryus Dixson and elite New Jersey recruit Jahmir Joseph verbally committed to the Nittany Lions. Both those players are now ranked as the top prospects in Penn State’s 2025 class, boosting their overall profile into being considered one of the best in the country.

As nice as that is right now, they’re still focused on landing the remaining top targets on their board so they can put together a well-rounded group that has talent across multiple different positions.

To do that, the Nittany Lions are looking to land their fourth cornerback of this cycle as their top remaining target, [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag], is still uncommitted.

The four-star Maryland native will commit next week on social media but he did not set an exact date. Coming out of his official visit to Happy Valley that took place this past weekend, Penn State is in a great position to land the coveted cornerback.

He called the trip a “10 out of 10” and told Blue White Illustrated he wanted to see how the players interacted with each other since he had already been to campus multiple times before that. His relationships with the coaching staff is great, so this was something that could have swayed his decision (subscription required).

The school he plays high school for, McDonogh, has been considered a Penn State feeder, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this will be an automatic win for the Nittany Lions.

They are trying to hold off Ohio State and South Carolina who he’s previously visited, and Oregon, who he’s seeing this upcoming weekend.

Penn State would love to get this one home considering Finney is ranked as the No. 131 player in this class by On3.

Their Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Nittany Lions favored to land the coveted cornerback at 30.7 percent, but they will be monitoring what takes place this weekend closely as they prepare for his decision next week.

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Penn State picks up commitment from coveted four-star cornerback

Penn State picks up a big four-star commitment from Jahmir Joseph.

Penn State is looking to secure a top recruiting class in the 2025 cycle.

Things have been relatively quiet and slow compared to past classes where they seemed to know where they stood among many of the top targets they were pursuing.

With official visit season taking place at Happy Valley, James Franklin and his staff need a huge showing so they can finish first in the process of these recruits.

They got some fantastic news when four-star cornerback [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] gave his verbal commitment to Penn State on Monday.

Listed as the 22nd-best player at his position and No. 182 in the 2025 class, this is a major win for the Nittany Lions to get the 6-foot, 185-pounder to commit to their program.

He joins fellow cornerback commits [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] and Daryus Dixson in this class, bringing Penn State’s number of cornerbacks up to three. There are now 15 players who are in this class for 2025.

Joseph chose the Nittany Lions over Notre Dame, Stanford, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The four-star was on campus this past weekend taking an official visit, and even though he was scheduled to visit South Carolina this upcoming weekend, he decided the trip to Happy Valley was good enough to officially commit to Penn State.

This seemed to be trending that way for the Nittany Lions as he took his most documented visits to see that program with four, but based on this new age of recruiting, it’s hard to tell until things become official.

Who Penn State will land next to fill out their cornerback group remains to be seen as they would prefer to have four commits in this class with [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] being a major target still on the board.

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Info coming out of Penn State’s first official visit weekend

Penn State had a busy weekend of recruiting with a number of official visits from top recruiting targets.

Penn State entered its first official visit weekend that just wrapped up with many of the top targets coming to Happy Valley to get a better look at the program.

As one of the first dates on the calendar for multiple recruits in this crop, this served as an important time for the Nittany Lions to cement themselves at the top of the board, or to ensure they stay in consideration as more trips are taken.

Even though there is still time for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff to continue to working on gaining commitments, they ideally will start adding to their tally of 13 to fortify their 2025 class.

Because this was such an important weekend, information coming out from different prospects who made the trip is paramount in determining who is a realistic target at this point and who might be taken off the board heading into the upcoming official visits still on the calendar.

Sean Fitz of On3 was able to gather some intel and share what he’s heard so far from players coming out of this trip (subscription required).

Close to Commitment

There has been an expectation for a while that Penn State would eventually land instate wide receiver [autotag]Lex Cyrus[/autotag] who is rated as a four-star recruit. He’s taken six trips to Happy Valley, the most out of any school, and is one of their top priorities.

Fitz seems to think that’s coming as he said he’s close to putting an official pick in for the Nittany Lions to land the speedster.

Cyrus is taking an official visit to South Carolina this upcoming weekend, the other program who is really in the mix to land him, however, Penn State has done a good job throughout this process and could be gaining another receiver commitment soon.

Feeling Good

Some of the Nittany Lions’ top defensive back targets made their way to campus this weekend, and information is coming out that they were able to stay in good standing as the recruits left.

Four-star cornerback [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] became a priority and it seems like Penn State is in good standing following this weekend even as he has more trips on his calendar.

Fitz said that the visit from [autotag]Antonio Branch[/autotag] went really well and the Nittany Lions are still at the top of his board saying that a decision could be coming soon and that he’s been close to locking in a commitment with Penn State.

What might have been the most important development is regarding four-star Texas linebacker [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag]. Fitz reports that the Nittany Lions are feeling “very good” about where they stand in his recruitment right now. It’s going to be a battle holding off USC, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M as he’s set to visit those campuses, but they like where they’re at following his visit.

Positive Buzz

Consensus four-star corner [autotag]Graceson Littleton[/autotag] seemed like bit of a longshot entering this official visit, but it seems like they made another good impression on the Florida native prior to him heading out to see Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa.

Elite wide receiver [autotag]Quincy Porter[/autotag] made his way for an important visit, and despite some pessimism that he actually views Penn State as a viable option with Michigan and Ohio State recruiting him hard, this trip seemed to have landed well for the No. 46 player in this class.

One of their other top wide receiver targets [autotag]Corey Simms[/autotag] reportedly had a “really good weekend” as he likes the staff and enjoyed his trip to Happy Valley. He’s always been viewed as a longshot, but this certainly helped their chances.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, there wasn’t much to suggest the Nittany Lions are going to secure commitments in the upcoming days, but that has rarely happened for this program during the first major official visit weekend.

Outside of Cyrus and Branch, who already seemed close to picking Penn State, there isn’t certainty that they’re going to land many of the recruits who were on campus.

However, they certainly made a good impression on many of their top targets, one of the main goals anytime the Nittany Lions host prospects in an official capacity, and that could loom large throughout the remainder of their processes.

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Penn State locks in visits from two four-star cornerbacks

Penn State has a couple of key recruiting targets locked in for a visit that could give the secondary a boost.

Penn State continues to search for top-end players in the class of 2025 that they can add to their growing list of commitments that already sits at 12.

With the list of “Power Conferences” reducing from five to four this year, more emphasis will be placed on recruiting at a high level to get the best possible talent into the program year after year.

Two cornerbacks are already committed in the 2025 class, but that’s not stopping the Nittany Lions from pursuing others across the country.

They’ll be getting visits from two four-star players this spring and summer as the players confirmed their plans to see Happy Valley again.

Chad Simmons of On3 confirmed [autotag]Onis Konanbanny[/autotag] will be on campus in an official capacity from June 14-16, marking his second visit to Penn State.

The 6’2″ 170-pound cornerback from South Carolina is listed as the second-best player in the state and the 28th overall player at his position according to On3’s Industry Rankings.

According to Konanbanny, the coaching staff sees shades of their past star when evaluating his potential and he likes the football program and educational aspect that Penn State provides.

“What I like most about Penn State is their defense, the environment, how they rock with me, how they see Joey Porter in me and what their degree means,” he told Simmons.

The Nittany Lions seem to be in a battle with North Carolina to land the four-star as he’s taking an official visit to their campus later in June.

That’s why Penn State continues to recruit other corners.

They’ll welcome [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] from Maryland to campus in March to watch spring practice, marking his second visit to Happy Valley. He’s developed a solid relationship with the coaching staff so far.

He’s an interesting prospect in the 2025 class.

Listed at 6’2″ and 185 pounds, his recruitment is starting to pick up after receiving tons of offers during the January contact period. This has loaded his calendar for visits, despite not having a star ranking from On3 or 247Sports.

ESPN lists him as a four-star player who is the No. 8 player in the state.

Perhaps that’s because his designation is “athlete” right now instead of cornerback.

Finney will be busy this spring and Penn State is hoping to stay on his radar as he goes and visits other campuses.