Tag: Xxavier Thomas

Penn State’s Class of 2025 is perfectly balanced, as all things should be

Penn State has signed its Class of 2025, and it’s a solid class.

Penn State may be preparing for the Big Ten championship game this week, but Wednesday was a cause to pause and celebrate the future of the program beyond this season. Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period in college football, and Penn State officially inked 26 members for its Class of 2026. With a recruiting class split evenly with 13 offensive players and 13 defensive players, James Franklin and his staff have managed to pull in a balanced class that will continue to sustain what the entire staff has been working to build for the next few seasons.

More than half of this recruiting class is scheduled to enroll early in January. Penn State announced 14 members of its Class of 2025 will be early enrollees, which will allow them to go through offseason workouts and conditioning and participate in spring football practices.

This recruiting class will be one of Franklin’s best overall classes at Penn State as well. A total of 23 of the 26 commits were ranked as a four-star or five-star player by On3, 247Sports, Rivals, or ESPN. The class also spread the Penn State footprint into 10 different states, including 19 from Pennsylvania or a neighboring state.

Among the top-rated recruits in the Class of 2025 are interior offensive lineman [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] from New Jersey, cornerback [autotag]Daryus Dixson[/autotag] from California, and linebacker [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (yes, THAT LaVar Arrington).

Here is a full list of Penn State’s Class of 2025 that has been signed during the early signing period:

  • DL [autotag]Randy Adirika[/autotag] (Miami, Fla.)
  • OL [autotag]Owen Aliciene[/autotag] (Cheshire, Conn.)
  • LB [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (Annapolis, Md.)
  • DL [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag] (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
  • DL [autotag]Chaz Coleman[/autotag] (Warren, Ohio)
  • RB [autotag]Jabree Coleman[/autotag] (Darby Township, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Jeff Exinor Jr.[/autotag] (Baltimore, Md.)
  • OL [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] (Bloomfield, N.J.)
  • DL [autotag]Cortez Harris[/autotag] (Largo, Md.)
  • RB [autotag]Tikey Hayes[/autotag] (Aliquippa, Pa.)
  • TE [autotag]Matt Henderson[/autotag] (Powhatan, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Koby Howard[/autotag] (Pensacola, Fla.)
  • DB [autotag]Joshua Johnson[/autotag] (Ironton, Ohio)
  • DB [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] (Nyack, N.Y.)
  • DL [autotag]Yvan Kemajou[/autotag] (Burtonsville, Md.)
  • TE [autotag]Brian Kortovich[/autotag] (Willoughby, Ohio)
  • QB [autotag]Bekkem Kritza[/autotag] (Chandler, Ariz.)
  • OL [autotag]Brady O’Hara[/autotag] (Mars, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Matt Outten[/autotag] (Portsmouth, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Lyrick Samuel[/autotag] (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  • LB [autotag]Cam Smith[/autotag] (Salem, N.J.)
  • LB [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] (Latrobe, Pa.)
  • DB [autotag]Braz Thomas[/autotag] (Glassboro, N.J.)
  • DB [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] (Canonsburg, Pa.)
  • OL [autotag]Michael Troutman III[/autotag] (Trenton, N.J.)

The focus will now shift to the transfer portal as Penn State’s offseason roster changes could be continuing in the coming weeks amidst its Big Ten and College Football Playoff push.

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Penn State flips commitment of 2025 Ohio defensive back

Penn State r received a commitment from 2025 three-star Ohio defensive back

Penn State received some positive recruiting news to kick off its bye week on Monday afternoon when three-star 2025 Ironton (Ohio) defensive back [autotag]Josh Johnson[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions. Johnson committed initially to Louisville this summer but reopened his recruitment following an official visit to Penn State in June.

The six-foot-three defensive back had visited State College numerous times throughout his recruitment and became close with the staff and current players.

“They have one of the best defenses in college football right now,” Johnson said. “I feel like my relationship with the staff at PSU is great. I talk to a lot of people over there daily. I really love the energy when I’m there.”

Johnson is rated as a three-star by 247Sports, the No. 90 cornerback in the 2025 class and the No. 39 player in Ohio. The 247Sports Composite rankings have Johnson as the No. 83 cornerback nationally.

Due to his size, Penn State recruited Johnson as a cornerback, but he can move to safety if needed. Penn State’s 2025 class already has [autotag]Daryus Dixson[/autotag], [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] and [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] at cornerback. [autotag]Braswell Thomas[/autotag] is also a part of the class at safety.

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Penn State picks up commitment from coveted four-star cornerback

Penn State picks up a big four-star commitment from Jahmir Joseph.

Penn State is looking to secure a top recruiting class in the 2025 cycle.

Things have been relatively quiet and slow compared to past classes where they seemed to know where they stood among many of the top targets they were pursuing.

With official visit season taking place at Happy Valley, James Franklin and his staff need a huge showing so they can finish first in the process of these recruits.

They got some fantastic news when four-star cornerback [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] gave his verbal commitment to Penn State on Monday.

Listed as the 22nd-best player at his position and No. 182 in the 2025 class, this is a major win for the Nittany Lions to get the 6-foot, 185-pounder to commit to their program.

He joins fellow cornerback commits [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] and Daryus Dixson in this class, bringing Penn State’s number of cornerbacks up to three. There are now 15 players who are in this class for 2025.

Joseph chose the Nittany Lions over Notre Dame, Stanford, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The four-star was on campus this past weekend taking an official visit, and even though he was scheduled to visit South Carolina this upcoming weekend, he decided the trip to Happy Valley was good enough to officially commit to Penn State.

This seemed to be trending that way for the Nittany Lions as he took his most documented visits to see that program with four, but based on this new age of recruiting, it’s hard to tell until things become official.

Who Penn State will land next to fill out their cornerback group remains to be seen as they would prefer to have four commits in this class with [autotag]Brandon Finney[/autotag] being a major target still on the board.

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Top 100 2025 cornerback commits to Penn State

Penn State lands its highest rated cornerback since 2017 with California prospect

Penn State made a significant splash on the recruiting trail Monday morning, securing a commitment from across the country. Top 100 Mater Dei (Calif.) cornerback [autotag]Daryus Dixson[/autotag] announced his commitment to [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and Penn State after having an official visit with the program last week.

Dixson chose Penn State over Tennessee and Washington while holding offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Colorado, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, and several other top schools. The Southern California native is the 247Sports Composite rankings’ No. 90 overall recruit and the No.10 cornerback in the nation.

Without a doubt, Dixson’s commitment is a massive get for Penn State after beating out multiple top programs for his signature.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Dixson became the Nittany Lion’s highest-ranked player in the Class of 2025 and the highest-ranked cornerback to commit to Penn State since Lamont Wade in 2017.

Dixson is known for his physicality. 257Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins even said, “he is the most physical corner out West and plays with the ferocity of a linebacker in a corner body.”

Penn State definitely secured a top prospect in the Class of 2025, and Dixson becomes the second defensive back to join the class, joining [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag].

Penn State’s 2025 recruiting class now features 14 commits, ranking 11th nationally, according to 247Sports.

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Penn State included in top six of four-star cornerback

Penn State gets some good recruiting news from four-star CB with latest top schools cut.

Penn State is going to have to make a big push in their recruitment of the 2025 class as they sit with 12 total commitments right now.

By comparison, they had 25 in 2024 and 23 in 2023 meaning there is still plenty of work to be done with players on their target board.

One area they’ll be looking to add to is their secondary as they have one cornerback committed to them in [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag].

The Nittany Lions got some good news when they learned they made the top six of four-star cornerback [autotag]Chris Ewald Jr[/autotag]. The other schools on his list are Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Miami, and Louisville.

This would be a great addition for the Nittany Lions as they have continued to recruit the state of Florida at a high level.

Ewald is ranked as the 114th-best player in the 2025 class according to On3’s Industry Rankings and is the No. 17 cornerback in the country.

He was previously committed to Michigan before opening back up his recruitment in January.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder has started lining up his official visits with the first one taking place at Georgia in late May and him already scheduling his trip to Happy Valley for June 21.

This seems to be an uphill battle and a potential losing one as Chad Simmons of On3 says that Miami are the likely landing spot for the South Florida native.

“… Miami is in a good spot …They’re a local program that I was told was not going to let Ewald get away,” he reports.

That is reflected by On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine who has the Hurricanes as the huge favorites to land the four-star with an 86.4% chance. Penn State sits at 1.5%.

Elite 2025 safety Jordan Young still considering Penn State

Penn State is going after one of the top safeties in the Class of 2025.

Penn State continues looking to build upon their strong showing so far in the class of 2025 and are coming out of a weekend where many of their top targets were on campus to witness spring practice in person.

At this time, many of the uncommitted recruits are still gathering information on different schools interested in them before planning out official visits for later in the summer.

While early commitments always garner attention and give fans and the coaching staff something they can tangibly see on paper, there are many players out there who won’t be choosing their college until later in the process.

That’s the case with four-star safety [autotag]Jordan Young[/autotag].

The North Carolina native is ranked as the 33rd-best player in the country and second overall at his position according to On3’s Industry Rankings.

According to Chad Simmons of On3, he’s also planning on announcing his commitment on Oct. 10. This will come after he visits Clemson, Florida State and Tennessee (which are already scheduled), but he also told the insider that he’s still considering Penn State amongst others (subscription required).

That interest could also lead to an official visit from Young this summer, but he also wants to take some trips to different campuses to get a feel for different atmospheres on gamedays.

For the Nittany Lions, this would be a huge get.

They only have one defensive back committed in the class currently, three-star cornerback [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag].

It will be interesting to see how this recruitment progresses since he’s yet to visit Happy Valley out of his 18 total trips he’s taken so far.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine currently has Clemson as the favorites to land Young with a 29.6% chance, followed by Tennessee at 17.4%.

Penn State’s 2025 football commitment tracker

We have an updated football commitment tracker for Penn State following Monday’s latest commitment.

Penn State got off to a fast start with assembling its Class of 2025 on the recruiting trail. James Franklin and his staff quickly put together a class ranking in the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings even before the Class of 2024 was wrapping up for good. An early focus on defense was noticeable with Penn State’s recruiting plans for the Class of 2025 and some key players from neighboring states were among the early highlights of the recruiting class.

We will be keeping tabs on the Penn State Class of 2025 all the way through the recruiting cycle up until the commitments sign with Penn State. Should there be any players backing off their commitment, we will track their status as well as their recruiting process plays out.

This tracker will be updated as necessary, with the most recent update being made on February 20, 2024.