Tag: Deryc Plazz

Penn State gets commitment from 4-star safety Vaboue Toure

Penn State is heading into the weekend with a four-star commitment to get things started.

Penn State got a bit of bad news on Thursday when their fifth offensive lineman in the class of 2024 decommitted after saying he might have rushed into the decision. [autotag]Deryc Plazz[/autotag]’s decommitment was a bump in the road for the fantastic recruiting period [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has done with this class.

However, the program got back to good news on Friday when they picked up a commitment from [autotag]Vaboue Toure[/autotag].

Toure was long rumored to be headed to Penn State but made it official Friday through his Twitter account. Toure is a four-star safety from New Jersey. He’s ranked as the 257th best player in the country and number 21 safety prospect according to On3’s industry rankings.

This is an important signing for Franklin and his staff when it comes to recruiting pipelines. There hasn’t been a New Jersey prospect sign with the program since 2020. New Jersey is an important pipeline because of the talented prospects located within the state.

Penn State has been recruiting Toure for a while. They first offered him a scholarship in March of 2022 and have hosted him for four visits, including the official visit during the weekend of June 9th.

Originally, Toure had plans to take official visits to Kentucky and Oklahoma, but decided to verbally commit to the Nittany Lions. He is the second safety that has committed to Penn State in the class of 2024 along with fellow four-star, [autotag]Dejuan Lane[/autotag].

The 2024 recruiting cycle has been successful so far. There are currently 17 players committed with more seemingly coming. This has the Nittany Lions in the Top 15 nationally by both On3 and 247Sports.

Penn State’s recruiting class is ranked 12th by On3 and ranked seventh by 247Sports.

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Penn State loses commitment from OL Deryc Plazz

Class of 2024 offensive lineman steps away form his Penn State commitment after rethinking his process.

A little less than two weeks after announcing his commitment to Penn State, Class of 2024 offensive tackle [autotag]Deryc Plazz[/autotag] has now announced he may have rushed into his decision faster than he should have. In a social media posting Thursday afternoon, Plazz announced he will “take a step back” from his commitment to the Nittany Lions.

“[Upon] reflection, I have come to realize that I rushed into this decision without giving it the careful consideration it deserves,” Plazz said in a statement shared on his Twitter account. “Choosing the right path for my future and my family is of the utmost importance, and I feel it is necessary to take a step back at this time.”

Plazz committed to Penn State earlier this month, on June 4, to become the fifth offensive line commitment in the recruiting class for 2024. The Florida native took a quick shine to Penn State once the program entered the recruiting mix, relatively later than others. Penn State was Plazz’ss pick over offers from Florida State, Miami, Duke, and NC State.

The announcement from Plazz comes a week away from a scheduled official visit to North Carolina State (June 23 according to his 247Sports profile). So now it will be interesting to see what comes out of the upcoming visit to NC State.

Of course, there is always a chance Plazz will come back to Penn State’s recruiting class at some point down the road. Such a development in the world of college football recruiting is hardly unprecedented, although Plazz’s full statement does seem to hint he will be committing elsewhere.

But you just never know! Maybe Plazz will end up at Penn State, or maybe he won’t. But it is good that he is taking the extra time he feels is needed to make sure he makes a choice he truly feels comfortable with in the end.

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Penn State adds 2024 4-star safety Dejuan Lane

Penn State lands commitment from four-star safety Dejuan Lane to cap big recruiting weekend

It was a monster Sunday for Penn State football’s recruiting efforts. They secured three commitments throughout the day as they continue to bolster their already potent 2024 recruiting class.

The first domino to fall was locking up their fifth offensive lineman in the class when [autotag]Deryc Plazz[/autotag] committed to the program. The big recruiting weekend continued when edge rusher [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag] announced his commitment to Penn State.

But Sunday got even better when four-star safety [autotag]Dejuan Lane[/autotag] announced his commitment on social media. Lane was projected to land at Penn State by recruiting services 247Sports and On3 after taking an official visit to State College over the weekend.

Lane is a 6’3″ 200 pound safety prospect from Baltimore, MD. On3’s industry rankings have him listed as the number 27 safety in the country and the ninth overall player in Maryland. He was the second Maryland prospect to commit to Penn State on Sunday.

Lane has previously been listed as a linebacker, which he played in high school along with some time at safety. He’s seen by many scouts and coaches as a “tweener,” or a player who is in-between two positions but can play both. However, Penn State primarily sees him as a safety when he comes to State College.

As far as why he committed to Penn State, Lane said it was a perfect fit.

He told Ryan Snyder of On3’s BlueWhiteIllustrated, “I committed because I know this is home. Immediately after stepping on campus, I felt this was home. I felt welcomed and loved.”

Lane also spoke about how important academics and athletics are, saying, “Penn State won me over because everything is complete. It’s the perfect mix of academics and high-level football, which is exactly what I was looking for.”

He also added how important the weekend in State College was telling Snyder, “They’ve always been very consistent and showing interest in me ever since they offered. They’ve shown me a bunch of love. When I got on campus for my official then, it was crazy. Everyone knew my name, even people I never met before. Stuff like that always makes you feel good.”

Lane is a big commitment to get for Penn State. He’s their first safety prospect in the class of 2024 and fits what they want to do on defense perfectly.

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Penn State adds another OL in the 2024 class

Penn State landed another offensive lineman to its Class of 2024 haul with Deryc Plazz.

If it wasn’t clear early on during the recruiting process for Penn State’s 2024 class, it has to be clear now. They are loading up at the offensive line position.

Coming into the weekend, Penn State had four commitments from offensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting class. On Sunday, that number went up to five after [autotag]Deryc Plazz[/autotag] committed to the Nittany Lions.

Plazz is a three-star prospect from Florida who was in State College for an official visit over the weekend. He’s a 6’5″ 280 pound offensive tackle who is the 65th overall player at his position according to On3’s industry rankings.

Penn State was the first school that Plazz is officially visiting in June. Other official visits on his calendar are to Duke, Miami and NC State. Penn State got into the recruitment of Plazz fairly late when they offered him a scholarship in April 2023. Despite that, the coaching staff was able to build enough of a relationship to get their fifth offensive lineman commitment.

Relationships were a big thing that Plazz was looking for during his recruitment. Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein played a huge part in landing this commitment. He was in constant communication with Plazz to build a rapport and make him feel wanted by Penn State.

Plazz told 247Sports, “They came down and watched me practice and watched some practice film and then they loved me. “They’ve been reaching out a lot. I’ve built a good relationship with (Trautwein).”

When he got to campus for his official visit, that’s what pushed him into committing to the Nittany Lions.

When speaking with 247Sports after announcing his commitment, he told them, “The people at Penn State, when I got here, it immediately felt like home. Me and my mom felt loved and wanted when we were here and you could tell that it was genuine. The guys here all care about each other and they have a great offensive line room, which I’m excited to be a part of.”

Plazz adds his name to a stacked group of offensive lineman coming to State College in 2024.

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Deryc Plazz is planning to check out Rutgers football for the Spring Game

Deryc Plazz is planning a Rutgers football visit in late April.

Highly-regarded offensive tackle prospect Deryc Plazz will be visiting Rutgers football at the end of the month. Plazz announced his upcoming visits which includes checking out the Scarlet Knights for their annual Spring Game on April 29.

At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, Plazz has fantastic size and film from last fall for Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville, FL). He is a three-star recruit and ranked the No. 121 player in Florida and the No. 75 offensive tackle in the nation according to the 247 Sports Composite.

Earlier in April, Plazz was offered by Florida State.

Plazz will be taking an official visit to North Carolina State on June 23.

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He announced his spring plans, including the late April visit to Rutgers, on his social media:

 

He also is planning trips to Wake Forest, Duke and Pittsburgh.

Florida has become a priority for Rutgers since the return of head coach Greg Schiano with Plazz representing another significant push to land talent from the state.

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Last season, Rutgers football had six commits from Florida, highlighted by talented players such as three-star running back [autotag]Jason Benjamin[/autotag] (offers from Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Purdue and Tulane among others), three-star defensive back [autotag]Bo Mascoe[/autotag] (offers from Boston College, Iowa and Iowa State among others) and three-star linebacker [autotag]Abram Wright [/autotag] (offers from Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina State among others).

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