Penn State is wrapping up spring football practices this weekend with the annual Blue-White Game in Beaver Stadium, but the weekend is already off to a nice start for head coach James Franklin and his staff. [autotag]Jameial Lyons[/autotag], a four-star edge rusher from Philadelphia, gave his verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions on Friday afternoon.
Lyons has long been expected to be Penn State’s to lose on the recruiting trail. A four-star edge rusher according to his 247Sports recruiting profile, Lyons actually moved up his commitment date by a few months in order to commit to the Nittany Lions. Lyons previously wanted to make his announcement official in August, on his mother’s birthday, but the decision to move up the commitment date suggests there was little competition for Penn State to worry about.
Lyons chose Penn State over offers from West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Illinois, and Cincinnati (the other schools in his top five). But when it came to visits, Penn State hosted Lyons far more than the other candidates in the running, which is the big reason why recruiting insiders had been heavily leaning on Penn State for their official predictions for Lyons.
Lyons is the first defensive lineman to hop on board for Penn State’s Class of 2023. Much of the focus on Penn State’s current recruiting cycle has addressed the concerns on the offensive line. Of the nine commitments prior to Lyons, four were offensive linemen ([autotag]Alex Birchmeier[/autotag], [autotag]J’ven Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Joshua Miller[/autotag], [autotag]Anthony Donkoh[/autotag]).
Penn State has picked up the verbal commitments of two of the top players in Pennsylvania, according to the 247Sports recruit rankings for the state. Williams is the top-rated recruit from the Keystone State, and Lyons is No. 13. Cornerback [autotag]Lamont Payne[/autotag] is the No. 10 recruit from Pennsylvania. There could be more success from within the state on the way at some point as well. Edge rusher [autotag]Ta’Mere Robinson[/autotag] (No. 3 overall in Pennsylvania) from Pittsburgh is widely projected to commit to Penn State, as is linebacker [autotag]Phil Picciotti[/autotag] of Perkasie (No. 8 in PA). At the moment, the only in-state recruit in the top 10 to get away from Penn State has been linebacker Josiah Trotter, who recently committed to West Virginia.
The commitment of Lyons is the first big headline from what is typically an important recruiting weekend for Penn State. Whether or not more commitments are on their way this weekend remains to be seen, but the spring game for any school is always used as a nice recruiting tool, and Franklin will hope to make a good sales pitch to any recruits in attendance this weekend.
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