Tag: Dayshaun Burnett

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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Penn State getting official visit from elite four-star linebacker

Penn State is looking forward to hosting this key linebacker recruiting target.

Penn State continues their efforts in the 2025 recruiting class to add as many talented prospects as possible.

With the Big Ten expanding, there is more need for talent now than ever.

The Nittany Lions have done a great job at landing early commitments from many players in the class so far, but there is still plenty of time for them to add more to areas of need.

One position they continue to target is linebacker.

Despite having three commitments already from four-stars [autotag]DJ McClary[/autotag], [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] and [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag], they are heavily recruiting another four-star from the state of Florida.

[autotag]Ty Jackson[/autotag] is rated as the No. 115 player in the country and 14th-best linebacker according to On3’s Industry Rankings, but On3’s new updated rankings have him much higher as the best linebacker in his class and the No. 16 player overall.

At 6’1″ and 205 pounds, he is a downhill player who gets into the backfield quickly with his speed.

Jackson has started to have offers from high-profile programs pour in recently with just under 30 offers, many from elite schools across the country.

According to Chad Simmons of On3, he’s locked in an official visit to Penn State for the weekend of May 31. He’s visiting three others across the SEC and ACC in an official capacity this summer and plans on seeing others in the spring. Simmons also said that Jackson is not rushing into a decision with the elite prospect telling him it will likely come after his senior season in high school (subscription required).

Penn State currently sits third in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 18.8% chance to land a commitment with Georgia leading the way at 25.1% and Tennessee second with a 21.9% chance.

Penn State’s 2025 football commitment tracker

We have an updated football commitment tracker for Penn State following Monday’s latest commitment.

Penn State got off to a fast start with assembling its Class of 2025 on the recruiting trail. James Franklin and his staff quickly put together a class ranking in the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings even before the Class of 2024 was wrapping up for good. An early focus on defense was noticeable with Penn State’s recruiting plans for the Class of 2025 and some key players from neighboring states were among the early highlights of the recruiting class.

We will be keeping tabs on the Penn State Class of 2025 all the way through the recruiting cycle up until the commitments sign with Penn State. Should there be any players backing off their commitment, we will track their status as well as their recruiting process plays out.

This tracker will be updated as necessary, with the most recent update being made on February 20, 2024.

Penn State lands Class of 2025 four-star LB Dayshaun Burnett

Penn State picked up its second big in-state commitment of the week from one of the top linebackers in the state.

After locking in the bulk of its Class of 2024 previously, Penn State wasn’t expecting to make a ton of noise on the first day of the traditional national signing day of 2024. But that doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions were not receiving some positive recruiting news on Wednesday. Penn State received a commitment for the Class of 2025 with linebacker [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag].

Burnett is a 6′-3″ 215-pound linebacker from Imani Christian Academy in Pittsburgh. Burnett picked Penn State over offers from West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, and Rutgers from his top five schools. Burnett made an unofficial visit to Penn State last July and September and made previous trips to the campus in the fall of 2022. Penn State extended an offer to Burnett in July 2022.

Burnett is rated as a four-star recruit by all of the major recruiting services, and 247Sports and Rivals each rank him among the top 10 players overall in Pennsylvania.

Penn State’s Class of 2025 now has 10 commits lined up. Burnett is the second linebacker to commit this week, following another in-state linebacker, Alex Tatsch. Penn State also holds a commitment from New Jersey linebacker DJ McClary, the top-rated recruit in the class at this point.

Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently ranks no. 6 in the nation according to the updated recruiting rankings from 247Sports. Among Big Ten members, only Ohio State currently holds a higher recruiting ranking in the next recruiting cycle according to the 247Sports rankings.

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Dayshaun Burnett has a top five that includes Rutgers football

Dayshaun Burnett announces his top five programs.

Four-star linebacker Dayshaun Burnett has Rutgers football in his top five. Burnett is one of the top linebacker prospects in the nation.

At 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, Burnett plays his high school football at Imani Christian Academy (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). He is a class of 2025 prospect.

He is ranked a four-star according to ESPN and 247Sports. ESPN ranks him as the seventh-best linebacker prospect in the nation and the ninth-best overall prospect in Pennsylvania regardless of position.

His top five were unveiled on Friday and includes the following five programs: West Virginia, Kentucky, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.

He also held Power Five offers from Duke, Michigan and Michigan State among others.

 

This past season was a strong step forward for Rutgers football under head coach Greg Schiano. In going 6-6 (3-5 Big Ten), Rutgers is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014.

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Rutgers currently has one commit in the 2025 recruiting class, quarterback Sean Ashenfelder from Florida.