Tag: Donovan Harbour

Biggest theme of Penn State’s 2024 class: balance

Penn State’s 2024 class offers one of the more balanced recruiting hauls in the country.

With the first and busiest day of the college football early signing period behind us, we can confirm that Penn State signed all 25 of its Class of 2024 commits earlier today. It was a “drama-free” signing day according to [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] who spoke after all the commits had signed. The class is now locked in for next year so let’s break it down.

Penn State returns a boatload of starting-caliber players from last season but will lose several starters to the NFL with more expected to announce in the coming month. Penn State has never been a heavy transfer portal school and relies mainly on keeping its returning players intact while reloading with a strong freshman class.

This years’ class is ranked 14th in the country by 247Sports Composite and 16th by On3. With 12 offensive commits and 13 defensive commits this year’s group is evenly balanced eluding to the fact that Franklin and his staff want to add quality depth around the board and fill in any neccessary holes from departing players.

From a positon standpoint is was more of the same type of balance across the board:

  • 7 skill players: QB [autotag]Ethan Grunkemeyer[/autotag], running backs [autotag]Quintin Martin[/autotag] and [autotag]Corey Smith[/autotag], wide recievers [autotag]Josiah Brown[/autotag], [autotag]Tyseer Denmark[/autotag], and [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Luke Reynolds[/autotag]
  • 5 offensive lineman: [autotag]Eagan Boyer[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Brewer[/autotag], [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag], [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag], [autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag]
  • 6 defensive lineman: [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag], [autotag]DeAndre Cook[/autotag], [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag], [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylen Harvey[/autotag], and [autotag]Mylachi Williams[/autotag]
  • 5 secondary players: cornerbacks Antoine Belgrave-Shorter, Kenneth Woseley, Jon Mitchell, and safties Dejuan Lane, and Vaboue Toure
  • 2 linebackers: Kari Jackson and Anthony Specca

No one position or side of the ball dominated the 2024 recruiting cycle for Penn State, but thats a good thing because it shows that Penn State has talent everywhere. Three wide recievers were added to arguably the worst room in 2023 and a playmaking running back was added to a room featuring two former 5-star recruits. The trenches were reloaded with talent and many of the offensive line commits should challenge for starting spots in their first year.

In the time of the transfer portal and NIL perhaps a early signing day like the one Penn State had today is not exciting, but it does not matter Franklin’s method of “underpromise, overdeliver” method still produces wins. It has in the past. Penn State’s 2024 class is balanced, solid, and most importantly adds talent across the board which is key for sustained success.

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Early Signing Day Tracker: Say hello to Penn State’s Class of 2024

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting …

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting to receive signed National Letters of Intent from their verbal commitments to make things official. There could always be a player or two who hold off until the traditional signing period in February for one reason or another, but Penn State is hoping for a pretty simple and straightforward opening to the early signing period.

Here is a look at each player who committed to Penn State in the Class of 2024 recruiting calendar and an update on which players have signed in the early signing period.

Twitter reacts to the commitment by 4-star OT Donovan Harbour

See Twitter’s reaction to Penn State picking up a commitment from 2024 4-star offensive lineman Donovan Harbour

Penn State continues its tear of getting top talent from the class of 2024 after securing a commitment from four-star offensive line prospect [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag] on Tuesday. He is ranked as the 155th overall player and number one prospect in Wisconsin according to 247Sports.

The commitment from Harbour has now put Penn State in the top 10 of recruiting rankings for both On3 and 247Sports. It’s been a huge rise this spring for the Nittany Lions who had previously gotten off to slow start securing players in the class of 2024. Now, they are in the driver’s seat to finish inside the top 10 of national recruiting rankings for the first time since their 2022 class.

Harbour is a 6’4″ 330 pound prospect who is projected to be able to play multiple positions across the offensive line. His blocking style has been described by scouts as “nasty” because he brings a physicality whenever he steps on the field.

Penn State fans and the program alike are certainly excited by securing this commitment. Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter.

Penn State adds commitment from four-star offensive lineman Donovan Harbour

Penn State lands commitment from 2024 four-star offensive lineman Donovan Harbour out of Wisconsin

Penn State added another massive piece to its recruiting efforts on the offensive line on Tuesday with a new commitment from [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag]. Harbour, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is a four-star recruit in the Class of 2024 and will be considered a massive recruiting victory of Penn State and head coach James Franklin.

Penn State hosted Harbour last weekend for the Blue-White Game. Within hours of the spring game, Harbour announced he was ready to share his commitment decision on his birthday. At that moment, if they hadn’t already been looking that way, Penn State appeared to be the frontrunner. Harbour picked Penn State over offers from Wisconsin and Ohio State, to name a couple, and landing his commitment over the in-state Wisconsin Badgers under new head coach Luke Fickell should be considered a nice quality recruiting victory for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State addressed the offensive line heavily in the Class of 2023 with the additions of J’ven Williams and Alex Birchmeier, and the Class of 2024 started off with another big commitment for the offensive line from in-state Cooper Cousins. The addition of Harbour will continue to boost the quality and depth of the offensive line to keep the unit in as good a shape as it has been under Franklin in the years to come.

Harbour is rated as a four-star recruit by each of the recruiting services (On3, 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN) and he is rated as the top overall recruit in Wisconsin by both 247Sports and ESPN and the second overall by Rivals (On3 ranks him as the fourth-best player overall in Wisconsin). The 6′-4″ 330-pound lineman should easily step in to plug the holes on the offensive line, and with some proper conditioning and training, he could be molded into a top-tier lineman with a very bright future ahead of him.

Penn State’s work on the recruiting trail for offensive line depth is far from over though. The next player on the radar is in-state recruit Kevin Haywood, of Royersford, PA. The four-star offensive tackle is considered another top recruiting target for the Nittany Lions and Penn State is trending well in his recruiting outlook, it seems. A decision date could be approaching, so keep an eye out for that announcement.

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Penn State expected to land commitment from four-star OL this week

Penn State is projected to be the favorite to land this massive four-star offensive lineman recruit this week.

After making a trip to Penn State over the weekend to check out the Blue-White Game festivities, Wisconsin offensive lineman [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag] announced he will make his commitment known this week. Given the timing of it all, Penn State appears to be in terrific shape to add another massive offensive lineman to its Class of 2024 recruiting haul.

Harbour is a 6′-3″ 310-pound offensive tackle and a consensus four-star recruit in the Class of 2024 with four-star rankings from 247Sports, On3, Rivals, and ESPN. He is a consensus top-three player from Wisconsin with the top ranking in the state from 247Sports and ESPN. Needless to say, adding a four-star offensive tackle like this from Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin Badgers develop offensive linemen with the best of them, would be a major recruiting victory for James Franklin and Penn State.

Wisconsin is going through coaching change with the program with former Cincinnati head coach (and former Ohio State assistant and interim head coach) Luke Fickell injecting new life into the program. Securing Harbour to stay close to home may have been one of the top objectives for the new regime in Madison, but Penn State has emerged as the favorite on the eve of his commitment announcement.

Harbour announced on his Twitter account he will be announcing his commitment on Tuesday, April 18 (his birthday).

There is just one prediction on the 247Sports crystal ball board, but it favors Penn State after a prediction was cast following the Blue-White Game. The prediction comes from Tyler Calvaruso, who covers Penn State recruiting for Lion247 on the 247Sports network of sites. That prediction was made less than 12 hours after Harbour announced he would be sharing his commitment decision, which was posted to his Twitter account just hours after the Blue-White Game.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine has also calculated Penn State to have a 90.9% chance of receiving Harbour’s commitment. The next closest on the board is Wisconsin with a 2.3% chance of a commitment, followed by Ohio State at 2.0%. That percentage is also heavily influenced by the timing of Harbour’s announcement and visit to Penn State’s spring game as well as the only official prediction on the board coming from another Penn State recruiting insider, Ryan Snyder of Blue White Illustrated.

Penn State’s Class of 2024 kicked off with a commitment from four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag] and recently added two-way lineman [autotag]Caleb Brewer[/autotag], a three-star recruit. Both are in-state recruits for Penn State. The possible addition of Harbour would be a nice piece to add to the class, especially following the Class of 2023 class that was highlighted by the additions of [autotag]J’ven Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Birchmeier[/autotag].

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Ohio State makes top 7 for Wisconsin offensive lineman

He would look good in Scarlet and Gray #GoBucks

The Buckeyes are always looking to secure top offensive line talent and have had some very good luck recently finding that in Wisconsin. Typically a very, pro-Badger area, last year [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] went into the state and signed [autotag]Carson Hinzman[/autotag], who has a bright future for [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag].

Day is looking to steal another offensive lineman from under the Badgers’ nose, [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag]. Today the 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pound offensive tackle announced his top seven schools, which consisted of the Badgers, Penn State, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Florida and the Buckeyes. He is viewed as one of the top offensive line prospects in the country, and it’s good news that the Buckeyes have made the cut.

There are just three commits for the Buckeyes in the 2024 cycle, [autotag]Jeremiah Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Ian Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Garrett Stover[/autotag]. Harbour would be a great addition to this group: Adding elite tackles is always a good idea.

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Florida lands in top seven for this 2024 top-100 IOL

The Gators made the most recent cut for four-star interior offensive lineman Donovan Harbour, a top-100 recruit in the class of 2024.

Recruiting never stops for the Florida Gators and that includes holidays. UF received the good news that it made the most recent cut for four-star interior offensive lineman [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag] on New Year’s Eve along with Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The Catholic Memorial (Waukesha, Wisconsin) is considering all seven schools and has offers from several other Power Five programs. Florida offered him in August but has yet to get him on campus. Harbour made visits to Ohio State and Tennessee in 2022 while also attending an Alabama camp in June.

Right now, the On3 recruiting prediction machine give the Buckeyes the best odds to land him at 37.3%, and Wisconsin is second on the list with 17.1% odds. Michigan State and Michigan both have above 10% odds, but the Spartans didn’t make his most recent cut. Florida’s odds come in at a paltry 1.1%, but that could change with a visit.

Catholic Memorial is coming off a 13-1 season where its only loss came in the state championship game. Harbour helped anchor an offensive line that averaged nearly 200 yards per game (199.6) and over 7.0 yards a carry.

Harbour is ranked No. 60 overall on the 247Sports composite and is No. 4 among offensive linemen in the class of 2024.

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Iowa Hawkeyes offer Wisconsin’s top player, 2024 OL Donovan Harbour

Iowa continued its efforts in the offensive trenches, offering talented and versatile class of 2024 offensive lineman Donovan Harbour.

Iowa has really been getting busy in the 2024 recruiting cycle, sending out plenty of offers to talented prospects throughout this spring. Now, the Hawkeye coaching staff has zeroed in on the top player from the state of Wisconsin to beef up its offensive line.

Donovan Harbour nabbed an offer from the Iowa Hawkeyes. It’s the 12th offer that the 6-foot-5, 310 pound offensive lineman from Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis., has received already.

In addition to Iowa, fellow Big Ten programs Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin have all offered Harbour. He also has Power Five offers from Boston College, Iowa State, Oregon, Syracuse and Tennessee. Rounding out Harbour’s list of offers, Central Michigan and Cincinnati have offered as well.

According to On3, Harbour is a four-star interior offensive lineman, the nation’s No. 34 overall player, the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and the top player from Wisconsin.

247Sports also ranks Harbour as a four-star prospect and lists him as the country’s No. 86 player overall, the No. 4 interior offensive lineman and as the top player from Wisconsin.

In the 247Sports composite rankings, Harbour is regarded as the nation’s No. 244 player nationally, the No. 11 interior offensive lineman and the No. 2 player from Wisconsin. In the On3 consensus rankings, Harbour is ranked as the No. 309 player nationally, the No. 18 interior offensive lineman and the No. 3 player from Wisconsin.

Iowa already has four commitments in its 2024 recruiting class. Offensive lineman Cody Fox, linebacker Cam Buffington and athletes Derek Weisskopf and Preston Ries have committed to the Hawkeyes.

All of those commitments are in-state products and they represent four of the top five players from the state of Iowa according to 247Sports. The Hawkeyes would love to add a player as talented as Harbour along its offensive line to pair with Fox.

Here’s a look at Harbour’s sophomore season highlights at Catholic Memorial High School.