Tag: Penn State recruiting

One detail of Corey Simms recruitment magnifies USC and Lincoln Riley

In most years, one aspect of USC’s Corey Simms recruitment would not have registered on a national scale. This is not a normal year.

USC beat out Penn State in the recruitment of wide receiver Corey Simms, but it’s the other school the Trojans beat out for the St. Louis-based receiver which adds to this particular football recruiting success story for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.

In most years, we wouldn’t give a second thought to the fact that USC beat out Missouri for a prominent player. Missouri has usually been an average program in college football. The Tigers have had some exceptionally great seasons in the 21st century, specifically 2007, 2013, and 2014, but in most years, Missouri is not a major national player in college football. That, however, changed last year when the Tigers made the Cotton Bowl and defeated Ohio State. The Tigers had a terrific season and are widely viewed as a legitimate threat — more so than USC — for the 2024 College Football Playoff. For USC to therefore go into St. Louis and beat Mizzou for Corey Simms is an impressive recruiting win, certainly more than what we would normally assign to a win over Missouri in most years.

We talked about this one minute into our recent USC show at The Voice of College Football:

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Penn State swinging for fences with multiple 2025 wide receivers

Penn State is working hard to add talented wide receivers in the Class of 2025.

After what transpired last season, everyone has their eye on what Penn State does at the wide receiver position in future recruiting classes.

There is a lot of pressure and expectations on [autotag]Marques Hagans[/autotag] to deliver elite talent to his receiver room, and while the future recruits won’t immediately help in the upcoming year, having a top pool to choose from should ensure the Nittany Lions don’t have down season in terms of production.

It’s clear that 2025 is an important target, and they are swinging for the fences in terms of who they are going after.

On3 has reported there are multiple wide receivers set to visit Happy Valley during the spring and summer with hopes that they land many of the names on their list.

As of now, there is only one receiver committed in the class, three-star [autotag]Lyrick Samuel[/autotag] from New York.

Sean Fitz of On3 said that one of Hagans’ top targets, Quincy Porter, is visiting Penn State in an unofficial fashion on March 29. This will mark the second time he’s been back on campus as he wasn’t able to come to the White Out game (subscription required).

The consensus four-star recruit out of New Jersey is a 6’3″, 190-pound receiver who is rated as 54th-best player in the country and No. 7 overall player at his position according to On3’s Industry Rankings.

Two others have locked in official visits with the Nittany Lions this summer.

[autotag]Lex Cyrus[/autotag] is a Pennsylvania native and four-star recruit. He made a big leap in the new On3 rankings that have him 132nd player in the country and No. 17 wide receiver. He’s a 5’10”, 175-pounder who seems to be leaning Penn State’s way based on the amount of visits he’s already taken to Happy Valley, but he’ll be expanding his radius in the coming months before visiting the Nittany Lions starting May 31 (subscription required).

The other receiver taking an official visit is [autotag]Taz Williams Jr.[/autotag], who is playing his high school football in Texas, but grew up in Pittsburgh.

He’s a 6’0″, 180-pounder who is listed as a four-star and ranked as the 39th-best wide receiver in the class of 2025.

Ryan Snyder of On3 reported that this could be a difficult process for Penn State to win as multiple other elite programs are currently leading the way in his recruitment (subscription required).

Williams Jr. has already locked in four other official visits with the Nittany Lions hosting him starting June 14.

This is a great sign for Penn State as they clearly have recognized a need to start recruiting the receiver room at a higher rate and get in more talented players to compete with other programs in the Big Ten and those who are entering.

4-star OT Jaelyne Matthews decommits from Penn State; Georgia reportedly ‘in pursuit’

Jaelyne Matthews, the first commit of Penn State’s 2025 class, has decommitted. Georgia may be the new leader of the recruiting process.

Jaelyne Matthews, a four-star offensive tackle from Toms River North (N.J.), was the first person in the class of 2025 to commit to Penn State. With his decommitment this week, however, the door has been opened for other suitors to move in.

According to reports, the Georgia Bulldogs may have taken position in the driver’s seat.

On3 reporter Keegan Pope wrote that Georgia offered Matthews in April 2022 and has “remained in pursuit” since. 247Sports director of football recruiting Steve Wiltfong predicted on Tuesday that Georgia would nab the talented lineman, ranked No. 9 at his position and No. 71 overall on the 247Sports Composite.

Matthews tweeted his announcement on Tuesday.

“This has been a difficult decision, as I have the utmost respect for the university, it coaches, and the entire Penn State community,” he said. “After much reflection and discussion with my family and mentors, I believe it is in my best interest to explore other options for my academic and athletic future.”

Nittany Lions Wire reported that Matthews originally chose Penn State over offers including Georgia, Ohio State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Syracuse and Texas A&M. According to 247Sports, he has 17 offers.

His junior season is just barely under way, so he has the better part of two more years to amass more. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman might just be getting started on his recruiting journey.

College football recruiting watchlist: USA TODAY Sports college wires weigh in on Class of 2023

USA TODAY Sports college wire editors share their thoughts about the most exciting prospect from some of the top Power Five programs in the country.

The Class of 2023 left the football recruiting world—and college fan bases—entranced for well over a year and a half, with high-profile names like Arch Manning creating significant buzz about their possible college landing spots.

The hype didn’t fall short on the field in 2022, either, as the top-tier crop  delivered consistently, adding to the excitement about one of the better classes in recent high school football history.

And now that the signing-period commotion is in the rearview, we know where the ’23 talents are headed to begin their college football careers, which introduces the other side of the recruiting tunnel.

To better grasp that part of the equation, we’ve turned to the USA TODAY Sports college wire writers who will be following the top recruits at Power Five schools in the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC, and beyond in 2023.

Our question was simple: Who are you most excited to watch from the Class of 2023?

Here’s what they had to say…

Top 20 Safety gets offer from Penn State

Penn State extends offer to top 20 safety in 2025.

Under [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag], Penn State has been able to build a recruiting pipeline from the state of Texas to State College.

Since Franklin took over the head coaching job in 2014, he has secured six commitments from prospects in the state of Texas. Prior to that, there were only three players from Texas who enrolled at Penn State.

With four-star running back in the class of 2025, Kiandrea Baker, already committed, Franklin and his staff have their sights set on another prospect from Texas.

On Monday, Penn State offered 2025 three-star safety Elijah Pratt a scholarship. Pratt is not a well known prospect at the moment and only has rankings from the 247Sports recruiting service. They have him as their 18th best safety prospect and the 43rd overall player in the class.

Pratt is a 5’11” 165 pound prospect from Arlington, TX. Even though he is under the radar as a prospect right now, there is still a lot of time for prospects in the 2025 class to become discovered on a wider scale.

After a conversation with defensive line coach Deion Barnes, Penn State decided to offer a scholarship. The Nittany Lions are the first school in the country to offer Pratt a scholarship.

Beating other schools to discovering a player can go a long way in the recruitment process. Being able to establish relationships and connections early on in the process could give Penn State a leg up when it gets down to decision making time.

It’s to be seen what type of prospect Pratt will become heading into his junior season of high school football, but he clearly has generated enough interest for Penn State to already offer him a scholarship.

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4-Star OT Garrett Sexton commits to Penn State

Penn State adds another big piece for the offensive line in the Class of 2024 with latest commitment from Garrett Sexton.

It may be NFL draft week but for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff the work never stops when it comes to building a winner. They skipped the coffee and started their work week by getting a commitment from 4-star Wisconsin offensive tackle recruit [autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag].

The 6-foot-7, 245-pound recruit decided to commit to Penn State over Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. He visited Penn State in March and had recently completed a visit to Oklahoma. Despite that visit and the pressure from his home state Wisconsin Badgers, he decided to head to State College to continue his football career.

Sexton is the 11th player to commit to Penn State as a part of their 2024 recruiting class that currently ranks eighth nationally and third in the Big Ten according to 247 Sports. He joins Donovan Harbour who committed last week as the second player to be in the class from the state of Wisconsin. They could add a third with running back Corey Smith set to announce his decision on Friday as he is currently crystal balled to Penn State.

In the 2024 class at his position, Sexton joins [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb Brewer [/autotag]as offensive tackles who will be coming to State College. Penn State may have to thank [autotag]Olu Fashanu [/autotag]for spotlighting the position as the top-ranked NFL prospect at the position heading into the 2024 NFL draft.

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Penn State basketball in final 5 of 2023 four-star forward

Could Penn State basketball beat out these four schools for a four-star recruit?

As it stands right now, there are zero players coming to Penn State out of the class of 2023. Originally three players had committed to the program but asked for their NLI release after the head coaching change.

When [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] took over the job, the program was about as baron as one could get. Graduates, transfer portal entrants and decommitments left Penn State with two scholarship players for the upcoming season at one point in time.

While the transfer portal can take away from a program, it can also get great talent into a program quickly. Penn State is familiar with the benefits it can provide after last season.

As expected, Rhoades targeted bringing some of his VCU players with him to State College. [autotag]Ace Baldwin[/autotag] was the first to commit, followed by [autotag]Nicholas Kern[/autotag] who committed the other day.

However, it looks like Penn State is in the running to land a player from the class of 2023.

Four-star forward from California, [autotag]Brady Dunlap[/autotag], recently cut his list down to five schools. Originally committed to Notre Dame, Dunlap asked for his NLI release in January after Mike Brey announced he would be stepping down as head coach following the season.

The other schools on his list are North Carolina, Villanova, St. Johns and Nebraska.

On3’s industry rankings have him listed as the 154th-ranked player in the 2023 class, but ESPN has him 80th in their top 100 list.

Dunlap is a 6’7″ forward who can shoot from range. That is his biggest strength and something that could translate to the next level right away if on the floor.

When speaking with Joe Tipton of On3 about Penn State he said, “Coach Rhoades has been great. He has worked very hard and has made an impression on me and my family. The whole staff seems to be a family along with the a winning culture. The school itself is very enticing with the history of athletic success. I can’t wait to visit.”

Dunlap has upcoming visits scheduled with every school except for Penn State at the moment, but it looks like he won’t make his decision until he visits the program in person.

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Ex-Michigan State WR commit visits Penn State

Can Penn state win over this former Michigan State commit on the recruiting trail?

What has been missing from Penn State’s growing class of 2024 commitments are the skill position players. Prior to the most recent commitment on Friday, there were zero wide receivers or running backs in the class.

Penn State is looking to change that by scooping up one of the most coveted wide receivers in the country.

[autotag]Nick Marsh[/autotag] is a four-star wide receiver from the state of Michigan. He is 6’3″ and 200 pounds and earned the name “Baby Megatron” because he plays so similar to former NFL star [autotag]Calvin Johnson[/autotag].

On3’s industry ranking takes the average from the four big recruiting rating services. He is ranked as the 71st player in the country and the number 14 wide receiver in his class according to the industry ranking.

Marsh had initially been headed to Michigan State when he committed to the Spartans in late July of 2022. He recently reopened his recruitment when he decommitted from Michigan State in early March.

Penn State wasted no time trying to get involved in his recruitment. Marsh announced on his Twitter page that he had visited Penn State on Thursday.

Right now it looks like the recruitment could be an uphill battle.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Michigan State in the lead to get their former commit back into the building with a 35.3% chance. The other major instate school, Michigan, is second at 24.8% and Auburn sits third at 21.3%.

Penn State is tied with Tennessee in fourth place, holding a 4.8% chance.

It looks like Marsh is going to take his time going through the process. He recently visited Tennessee last week and plans to visit Auburn again during the middle of June according to On3.

This would be a huge recruiting victory for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] if he’s able to pry one of the top prospects from Michigan and get him into the Penn State program.

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3-star offensive lineman has Penn State in top 4

Penn State in top four for this Class of 2024 offensive line recruiting target

Penn State has started to pick up their recruiting efforts for the class of 2024 in recent months. The class started out looking bleak, but has picked up some serious momentum. The Nittany Lions are now up to six commitments with some speculation there could be another coming soon.

Penn State has their sights set on beefing up their offensive line for the 2024 class. They already secured four-star prospect [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag] in January, but have been recruiting others in the class to join him.

[autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag] is a 6’7″ 245 pound prospect from Wisconsin. The three-star offensive lineman included the Nittany Lions on his list after his unofficial visit in late March. 18 schools have offered Sexton a scholarship, but he cut his list to four schools on Thursday.

Included in his announcement was that he’ll be making deciding on which program he’ll commit to on May 1st.

The three other schools in his top four are Oklahoma, Minnesota and Iowa.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Minnesota in the lead to land the three-star prospect. They give the Golden Gophers a 30.2% chance to get Sexton. He’s had two unofficial visits to the campus and looks to be the strong leader in his recruitment.

Penn State is currently sitting at a 9.9% chance to get Sexton, but the machine hasn’t been updated since he announced his top four schools. Out of the other programs on the list, Penn State has the third best odds to get him according to the Recruiting Prediction Machine.

247Sports has the recruiting rankings very close between Penn State, Iowa and Minnesota. They are ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively in the Big Ten for the 2024 class.

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Twitter reacts to Penn State getting commitment from Top 100 player Quinton Martin

How Penn State Twitter reacted to Friday night’s massive recruiting news

Normally, any news released on a Friday is bad news. It’s known as the “Friday news dump” because the weekend is a nice cover for any negative news that might be released.

It was the complete opposite for Penn State and fans across the country following the announcement that Top 100 player [autotag]Quinton Martin[/autotag] is headed to State College.

This is a major victory for Penn State. Martin is the top ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania. Keeping him instate is a huge statement to back up [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag]’s motto of dominating the state in recruiting.

247Sports now has the Nittany Lions ranked number nine overall in the recruiting rankings following the commitment from Martin. They trail Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Here are the best Twitter reactions following the announcement from Quinton Martin.