Tag: Brian Kortovich

Penn State’s Class of 2025 is perfectly balanced, as all things should be

Penn State has signed its Class of 2025, and it’s a solid class.

Penn State may be preparing for the Big Ten championship game this week, but Wednesday was a cause to pause and celebrate the future of the program beyond this season. Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period in college football, and Penn State officially inked 26 members for its Class of 2026. With a recruiting class split evenly with 13 offensive players and 13 defensive players, James Franklin and his staff have managed to pull in a balanced class that will continue to sustain what the entire staff has been working to build for the next few seasons.

More than half of this recruiting class is scheduled to enroll early in January. Penn State announced 14 members of its Class of 2025 will be early enrollees, which will allow them to go through offseason workouts and conditioning and participate in spring football practices.

This recruiting class will be one of Franklin’s best overall classes at Penn State as well. A total of 23 of the 26 commits were ranked as a four-star or five-star player by On3, 247Sports, Rivals, or ESPN. The class also spread the Penn State footprint into 10 different states, including 19 from Pennsylvania or a neighboring state.

Among the top-rated recruits in the Class of 2025 are interior offensive lineman [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] from New Jersey, cornerback [autotag]Daryus Dixson[/autotag] from California, and linebacker [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (yes, THAT LaVar Arrington).

Here is a full list of Penn State’s Class of 2025 that has been signed during the early signing period:

  • DL [autotag]Randy Adirika[/autotag] (Miami, Fla.)
  • OL [autotag]Owen Aliciene[/autotag] (Cheshire, Conn.)
  • LB [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (Annapolis, Md.)
  • DL [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag] (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
  • DL [autotag]Chaz Coleman[/autotag] (Warren, Ohio)
  • RB [autotag]Jabree Coleman[/autotag] (Darby Township, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Jeff Exinor Jr.[/autotag] (Baltimore, Md.)
  • OL [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] (Bloomfield, N.J.)
  • DL [autotag]Cortez Harris[/autotag] (Largo, Md.)
  • RB [autotag]Tikey Hayes[/autotag] (Aliquippa, Pa.)
  • TE [autotag]Matt Henderson[/autotag] (Powhatan, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Koby Howard[/autotag] (Pensacola, Fla.)
  • DB [autotag]Joshua Johnson[/autotag] (Ironton, Ohio)
  • DB [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] (Nyack, N.Y.)
  • DL [autotag]Yvan Kemajou[/autotag] (Burtonsville, Md.)
  • TE [autotag]Brian Kortovich[/autotag] (Willoughby, Ohio)
  • QB [autotag]Bekkem Kritza[/autotag] (Chandler, Ariz.)
  • OL [autotag]Brady O’Hara[/autotag] (Mars, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Matt Outten[/autotag] (Portsmouth, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Lyrick Samuel[/autotag] (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  • LB [autotag]Cam Smith[/autotag] (Salem, N.J.)
  • LB [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] (Latrobe, Pa.)
  • DB [autotag]Braz Thomas[/autotag] (Glassboro, N.J.)
  • DB [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] (Canonsburg, Pa.)
  • OL [autotag]Michael Troutman III[/autotag] (Trenton, N.J.)

The focus will now shift to the transfer portal as Penn State’s offseason roster changes could be continuing in the coming weeks amidst its Big Ten and College Football Playoff push.

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Class of 2025 tight end Brian Kortovich flips commitment to Penn State

Penn State flipped a three-star tight end from another Big Ten program just before early signing period for Class of 2025.

With one day remaining before early National Signing Day gets underway, Penn State was able to make a late move by flipping one of their targets.

In a social media post, tight end [autotag]Brian Kortovich[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions. That came just two days after he decommitted from Purdue following his official visit to Happy Valley this past weekend for the finale against Maryland.

Rated as a three-star prospect in the 2025 cycle, he has been someone on Penn State’s radar for a while after he camped for them. At that time, though, there wasn’t a ton of interest from the Nittany Lions, but as things continued to progress and [autotag]Andrew Olesh[/autotag] committed to Michigan, the relationships continued to progress.

“The environment was awesome! Obviously with it being Thanksgiving weekend and the weather, the stadium wasn’t as packed as usual but it did not disappoint,” Kortovich told Sean Fitz of BlueWhiteIllustrated. “What continues to excite me is just the relationships I’ve built in one weekend whether it be with the coaches, the staff or the players.”

The Ohio native might not pop in the rankings like others Penn State have been able to land at that position in recent years, but there is a lot of optimism about what he can turn into.

As he continued to put on weight, that’s when tight ends coach [autotag]Ty Howle[/autotag] really took note and got the Nittany Lions back involved until this flip was made.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, his athletic profile reportedly grades out similarly to their past commitments, a good sign for what could come during his tenure.

What that means regarding the recruitment of Olesh isn’t clear.

Penn State could still pull off the flip, something they are pushing really hard to do, but they weren’t willing to wait around and miss out on Kortovich.