Penn State just welcomed 22 new members to its football program with the signing of its Class of 2023, although there could still be some more room for another recruit or two or new pieces coming through the transfer portal. But there are some players that got away from Penn State during the recruiting process, which is perfectly normal in this game. Every school deals with a handful of players who change their minds after committing to them at some point in the process because high school students are allowed to change their minds for whatever reason they choose when it comes to where they will be going to college. Such was the case for Penn State with a number of players opting to back off a commitment to the Nittany Lions in the Class of 2023.
Fortunately for Penn State, [autotag]Mathias Barnwell[/autotag] was a rare case where he came back to committing to Penn State after decommitting.
“When he committed, wanted to make sure they were comfortable, truly knew what that was,” head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] said when reflecting on the recruiting efforts of Barnwell that ultimately led to Barnwell signing with Penn State in the Class of 2023. “His eyes started to wander in 10th grade, then committed back to us, which doesn’t always happen.”
Penn State could still end up welcoming another player or two that had previously committed to Penn State before backing off of it along the way. Quarterback [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag] and wide receiver [autotag]Ejani Shakir[/autotag] are two players still available in the recruiting pool. Each had committed to Penn State in the past before stepping back. In the case of Stokes, he flipped his commitment to Florida before having his scholarship offer pulled after a controversial video of Stokes went viral. Shakir merely wanted to take more time to weigh his options, it seems. Both players are currently projected by recruiting analysts and metrics to end up at Penn State, but time will tell how that all plays out.
Here are a few others who backed off a commitment to Penn State and where they each ended up in the early signing period.