Tag: Max Granville

Penn State adds 2025 edge rusher Chaz Coleman to their class

Penn State was able to strike in the 2025 class again, adding a promising edge rusher to the class.

Penn State is coming off a great showing against Washington where they completely dominated the Huskies in front of a White Out crowd. That was a huge result for more reasons than one.

Not only were the Nittany Lions able to bounce back and remind everyone they are one of the best teams in college football despite another loss to Ohio State, but there were tons of recruits on campus who were ready to be blown away by the atmosphere and the performance of the program who is recruiting them.

Mission accomplished.

Penn State picked up a commitment from 2025 athlete [autotag]Chaz Coleman[/autotag] who was in Happy Valley for his official visit this past weekend, a trip that will span until Monday.

Ranked as a three-star by On3’s Industry Ranking, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder plays both quarterback and edge rusher for Warren G Harding High School in the state of the Ohio.

He will be playing on the defensive line for the Nittany Lions during his collegiate career, potentially getting a boost in the ratings once he is viewed specifically as a pash rusher.

Penn State is excited to get him on board.

A really late riser in the process, Coleman didn’t receive his first Power 4 offer until August of this year. The Nittany Lions were even later to extend a scholarship to him, officially offering him one in September. As an athlete who has played multiple positions on the football field and across different sports, [autotag]Deion Barnes[/autotag] and the staff believe he has a high ceiling when it comes to getting after the passer at a high level.

If he can reach that ceiling, this will be a huge get for Penn State.

Their jewel of the edge rusher class, [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], reclassified to the 2024 class and is already on campus as part of this roster. That left a hole in this group as the Nittany Lions searched for other talented defensive ends.

Coleman could be exactly that, and although he is likely a project at this point in his career, he should be someone to keep an eye on once he arrives to Happy Valley.

Max Granville enrolls at Penn State after he reclassifies to Class of 2024

Penn State Class of 2025 commit Max Granville is enrolled now after reclassifying to Class of 2024.

The wait to watch one of Penn State’s top recruiting targets in the Class of 2025 just got a whole lot shorter. [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], a four-star edge rusher from Texas, has reclassified to the Class of 2024 and is already enrolled at Penn State, which makes him eligible for the Nittany Lions this fall.

That is quite a development for the Penn State defense. The edge position appears to be in great shape this upcoming season with Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter leading the way, but getting one of the nation’s top edge rushing prospects in the program now is a great boost for the depth and future outlook for Granville in State College.

Granville was a four-star recruit from Sugar Land, Texas. The 6-2.5′ edge rusher committed to Penn State on June 24, almost a month after an official visit to the campus. Now, a month later, he is enrolled and ready to go. This happened quickly for Penn State.

By enrolling now, Granville will be eligible for the 2024 season, although fans may still have to temper their expectations for him this fall. Still, he can appear in up to four games without burning a redshirt season, so look for the coaching staff to find a good opportunity to get Granville on the field should the situation be there to take advantage of.

Granville reclassifying for the Class of 2024 gives one last boost to Penn State’s Class of 2024 while taking a little bite out of the Class of 2025. That gives Penn State another scholarship to try filling in the Class of 2025 in the coming months while also not having to worry about one of its top recruiting targets flipping to another program before the early signing period in December.

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Sooners defensive line target Smith Orogbo commits to Texas

Sooners 2025 four-star defensive end target commits to the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still working to add defensive line depth for the 2025 recruiting class. Though they’ve earned commitments from interior defensive linemen [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and defensive ends [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] and [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], the defensive staff had been in pursuit of other players on the edge.

After missing on [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], who chose Penn State, the Sooners turned their attention to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag]. At the time, it appeared Oklahoma might pull off a recruiting win over Texas Tech. However, it’s the Sooners’ Red River rivals who are adding the dynamic edge rusher.

On Monday, Orogbo committed to the Texas Longhorns. He’s a talented pass rusher with significant upside due to his fantastic athleticism.

The Sooners still have a dynamic defensive end duo in Shieldnight and Nickson to build the future of their defensive end group around, and they are well within the top 10 recruiting classes in the country as we enter July.

The Sooners turn their attention to securing commitments from [autotag]Cortez Mills[/autotag] and [autotag]Omarion Robinson[/autotag] along with priority offensive line targets [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag], [autotag]Lamont Rogers[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Babalola[/autotag], and [autotag]Ty Haywood[/autotag].

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Oklahoma Sooners 4-star target Max Granville commits to Penn State

Oklahoma misses out on 2025 four-star linebacker Max Granville, who commits to Penn State.

After a weekend of official visits for the ChampU BBQ, it looked like the Oklahoma Sooners had gained some serious momentum in the recruitment of 2025 four-star edge rusher [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

Steve Wiltfong of On3 issued a prediction favoring the Sooners on Sunday. While everything looked to be going OU’s way, the tide turned on Monday as the Penn State Nittany Lions earned Granville’s commitment with a late push.

In Granville, the Nittany Lions add one of the best pure pass rushers in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. His quickness off the line of scrimmage and array of pass rush moves are going to create problems for Big Ten schools.

For Oklahoma, they’ll continue their pursuit of in-state four-star prospect [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], who has long been projected to land with the Sooners. Oklahoma also likely pivots to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag], a four-star edge, and the No. 26 prospect, according to On3.

Who’s next to join [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners at defensive end? That will be something to watch in the coming months.

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Penn State officially lands coveted 2025 four-star Max Granville

Penn State lands a massive four-star commitment from Max Granville.

The wins keep coming for Penn State, [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag], and his staff.

After the early part of their official visit season started out slow on the commitment front, it has completely taken off with many of their top targets jumping on board.

The Nittany Lions were hovering around one of the top classes nationally, and with some of the players they have already landed, they should be able to secure that by the time the 2025 class rankings are finalized.

One player who is certainly going to give them a boost is their newest commit [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

https://www.instagram.com/max__granville/p/C8nZ6J7S2Jh/

A four-star edge rusher and linebacker from the state of Texas, the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder has been high on the wish list of Penn State for a while. This was a process that many recruiting analysts thought would be tough to win with Texas A&M and Oklahoma so involved in his process.

However, there continued to be great feedback coming out regarding out Granville felt about the program and coaching staff as a whole. That continued to be the case when he was on campus for an official visit during the weekend of May 31.

But with two more scheduled officials to A&M and Oklahoma following his departure from State College, there were many who didn’t think Penn State could get this done.

Instead, they landed one of their biggest wins of the cycle by picking up a commitment from No. 167 player in the 2025 class.

Granville has NFL pedigree with his dad spending four years playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was a major part of the recruitment process of his son and liked what the Nittany Lions had to offer.

Ultimately, though, a huge deciding factor was his mother, and after his official visit, Penn State left a very good impression upon the 2025 recruit and his family.

Now, they have Granville on board as their 18th commit in the class.

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Penn State storms ahead of Oklahoma and Texas A&M in recruiting predictions for four-star linebacker

Penn State has stormed ahead of Oklahoma and Texas A&M for a four-star linebacker from Texas.

It was once thought that Penn State securing a commitment from a four-star linebacker out of Texas might be a bit of an uphill battle. Perhaps it still is, but there could be some reason to begin feeling optimistic about Penn State’s chances of winning a commitment from [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

Granville is a four-star linebacker from Sugar Land, Texas, and Oklahoma has been considered the favorite for his commitment, as one might expect for the traditional southwestern powerhouse program in this particular region. But Penn State may be about to steal Granville from underneath Oklahoma’s noses as he approaches his decision date.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine has swung wildly in Penn State’s favor ahead of Oklahoma in the past 24 hours with four predictions from On3’s staff being cast for Penn State. Among those predictions made came from Steve Wiltfong, On3’s vice president of recruiting and transfer portal, and three others staffers including recruiting analyst Ryan Snyder, who always has a good pulse on the Penn State recruiting scene.

All four of these predictions were recorded Monday afternoon, suggesting Penn State is very close to getting a major commitment out of Texas. Penn State has gone from having the third-best odds of getting Granville’s commitment to the leader in the race with a 90.7% chance in their favor according to the updated On3 recruiting prediction machine calculations.

Granville was offered by Penn State in May 2023. He made an unofficial visit to Penn State in March of this year and took an official visit at the end of May. He has since been scheduled to officially visit USC, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma (this past weekend).

Stay tuned. Penn State’s recruiting class could be about to get a nice commitment.

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On3’s Steve Wiltfong predicts Oklahoma to land 2025 4-star linebacker

On3 director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong predicts the Sooners in the recruitment of four-star linebacker Max Granville.

The Oklahoma Sooners are looking for their first linebacker commitment of a star-studded [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. Though much of the attention in recent weeks has been on four-star prospect [autotag]Elijah Melendez[/autotag], the Sooners have created momentum for a player they’ve been recruiting for some time.

On3 director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong issued a prediction favoring the Oklahoma Sooners for four-star linebacker [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

Out of Sugarland, Texas, Granville is considered a top 200 prospect in the class by 247Sports, On3 and ESPN, which has Granville as the No. 109 prospect in the class. He’s ranked as one of the top 25 players at his position and as high as the No. 9 linebacker in the cycle by Rivals.

Granville was a late addition to the visitor list for the Sooners, spending time with the coaching staff and with a number of players who are already committed in the class.

He’s a 6-foot-2, 225-pound prospect with a fantastic motor. Granville is a natural pass rusher who displays a great spin move, stutter step and swim move. Though he might be considered a linebacker, he looks like a player who could be a natural cheetah in [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag]’s defense.

The Sooners’ main contender for Granville appears to be the Texas A&M Aggies, but with Wiltfong’s prediction, it looks like the Sooners have taken a significant lead.

Update

A few hours after Wiltfong’s prediction for On3, Landyn Rosow, who covers Texas A&M recruiting for Rivals, issued a futurecast favoring the Sooners.

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Info coming out of Penn State’s first official visit weekend

Penn State had a busy weekend of recruiting with a number of official visits from top recruiting targets.

Penn State entered its first official visit weekend that just wrapped up with many of the top targets coming to Happy Valley to get a better look at the program.

As one of the first dates on the calendar for multiple recruits in this crop, this served as an important time for the Nittany Lions to cement themselves at the top of the board, or to ensure they stay in consideration as more trips are taken.

Even though there is still time for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff to continue to working on gaining commitments, they ideally will start adding to their tally of 13 to fortify their 2025 class.

Because this was such an important weekend, information coming out from different prospects who made the trip is paramount in determining who is a realistic target at this point and who might be taken off the board heading into the upcoming official visits still on the calendar.

Sean Fitz of On3 was able to gather some intel and share what he’s heard so far from players coming out of this trip (subscription required).

Close to Commitment

There has been an expectation for a while that Penn State would eventually land instate wide receiver [autotag]Lex Cyrus[/autotag] who is rated as a four-star recruit. He’s taken six trips to Happy Valley, the most out of any school, and is one of their top priorities.

Fitz seems to think that’s coming as he said he’s close to putting an official pick in for the Nittany Lions to land the speedster.

Cyrus is taking an official visit to South Carolina this upcoming weekend, the other program who is really in the mix to land him, however, Penn State has done a good job throughout this process and could be gaining another receiver commitment soon.

Feeling Good

Some of the Nittany Lions’ top defensive back targets made their way to campus this weekend, and information is coming out that they were able to stay in good standing as the recruits left.

Four-star cornerback [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] became a priority and it seems like Penn State is in good standing following this weekend even as he has more trips on his calendar.

Fitz said that the visit from [autotag]Antonio Branch[/autotag] went really well and the Nittany Lions are still at the top of his board saying that a decision could be coming soon and that he’s been close to locking in a commitment with Penn State.

What might have been the most important development is regarding four-star Texas linebacker [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag]. Fitz reports that the Nittany Lions are feeling “very good” about where they stand in his recruitment right now. It’s going to be a battle holding off USC, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M as he’s set to visit those campuses, but they like where they’re at following his visit.

Positive Buzz

Consensus four-star corner [autotag]Graceson Littleton[/autotag] seemed like bit of a longshot entering this official visit, but it seems like they made another good impression on the Florida native prior to him heading out to see Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa.

Elite wide receiver [autotag]Quincy Porter[/autotag] made his way for an important visit, and despite some pessimism that he actually views Penn State as a viable option with Michigan and Ohio State recruiting him hard, this trip seemed to have landed well for the No. 46 player in this class.

One of their other top wide receiver targets [autotag]Corey Simms[/autotag] reportedly had a “really good weekend” as he likes the staff and enjoyed his trip to Happy Valley. He’s always been viewed as a longshot, but this certainly helped their chances.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, there wasn’t much to suggest the Nittany Lions are going to secure commitments in the upcoming days, but that has rarely happened for this program during the first major official visit weekend.

Outside of Cyrus and Branch, who already seemed close to picking Penn State, there isn’t certainty that they’re going to land many of the recruits who were on campus.

However, they certainly made a good impression on many of their top targets, one of the main goals anytime the Nittany Lions host prospects in an official capacity, and that could loom large throughout the remainder of their processes.

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Four-star LB shares thoughts on Penn State ahead of visit

Penn State is hoping this upcoming official visit from four-star linebacker goes well.

Penn State is going to hit its official visit portion of the calendar in major need of landing some of its biggest targets remaining on the board.

With 13 current commitments in the class of 2025, [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff are hoping they can utilize this important period where recruits come to Happy Valley and meet other prospective members of their class to sway top players into the direction of the Nittany Lions.

One recruit that is going to be a battle is [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

The consensus four-star linebacker is ranked as the 21st-best prospect at his position and No. 179 in the country according to On3’s Industry Rankings.

Granville is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound Texas native who first visited Penn State back in March and detailed how he was blown away by the experience. That caused him to schedule an official visit for the weekend starting May 31 which will be massive for this program.

Ahead of that trip, he spoke with Steve Wiltfong of On3 about the schools who are still in the running during his recruitment.

When discussing the Nittany Lions, he once again detailed how impressed he was by his unofficial visit, but he also went gave a bit more details about what he likes about the scheme. Granville went so far as to call it “amazing” and “the best” of any programs still in the mix because Penn State lets their edge rushers and linebackers fly around on the field (subscription required).

He wasn’t the only one impressed by that initial visit, either.

Granville’s father, Billy, also discussed the scheme with Wiltfong saying it would fit his son’s game perfectly.

Billy was a linebacker at Duke before playing professional football for the Cincinnati Bengals, so he’s been involved in his training and recruiting process as his son looks to make his decision on where to play.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine says the Nittany Lions have an uphill battle on their hands if they want to land the four-star.

Texas A&M leads the way with a 46.8% chance and Oklahoma is second with a 40.9% chance. Meanwhile, Penn State sits at 1.8%.

Many of those projections come from the number of visits a prospect takes, and those two are the clear leaders on that front, so that’s why the official visit starting May 31 is going to be so important for the Nittany Lions if they want to land another star edge rusher.

Oklahoma to host talented 2025 prospects for first Junior Day of new recruiting cycle

Oklahoma is hosting their first Junior Day for the Class of 2025. We’ve compiled a list of the expected or confirmed attendees.

Oklahoma’s recruiting has been borderline elite since Brent Venables took over as Norman’s head man. The three recruiting classes have been well-balanced from top to bottom. As the 2024 class begins to acclimate themselves as student-athletes on campus this month, the staff has pressed on and is looking ahead to the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag].

The 2025 class is a switch-up from the previous classes. If nothing else because the Sooners have a slew of commits already in the boat for 2025. In the last few years, Oklahoma has exploded onto the scene in the summer. Some early lifting and the byproduct of terrific relationships built over the last few years have already paid dividends for this staff. The Sooners already have nine commits for 2025.

Oklahoma will host its first Junior Day of the year Saturday in Norman, and we’ve done our best to compile a list of the names confirmed or expected to be in the building.

[autotag]Elijah Thomas[/autotag] – four-star WR – OU Commit

[autotag]Owen Hollenbeck[/autotag] – four-star IOL  – OU Commit

[autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] – four-star QB – OU Commit

[autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] –three-star DT  – OU Commit

[autotag]Caleb Cunningham[/autotag] – five-star WR

Emmanuel Choice – three-star WR

Kole Briehler – three-star DL

Demarius Robinson – RB

Max Granville – four-star EDGE

[autotag]Cobey Sellers[/autotag] – four-star CB

Deyjhon Pettaway – four-star CB

[autotag]Trystan Haynes[/autotag] – four-star CB

Omarion Robinson – four-star S

[autotag]Landon Rink[/autotag] – four-star DL

[autotag]Jonah Williams[/autotag] – five-star LB/S

Tory Blaylock – four-star RB

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