The decision date for Class of 2023 four-star running back Mark Fletcher is arriving this week, and Penn State may be hoping for one of the biggest surprises of the week. Fletcher is widely regarded to be set to announce his commitment to Ohio State, but Penn State is still, officially, in the running as his announcement approaches.
Fletcher is scheduled to announce his commitment decision on Tuesday evening with a press conference scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The decision will be broadcast live on CBSSports HQ, where available. And in an interview with 247Sports, Fletcher confirmed he is down to four schools for his final decision; Ohio State, Miami, Michigan, and Penn State.
In evaluating where Penn State stands in the pecking order, it does come off as though the Nittany Lions are at the bottom of the pack between these four schools. Miami is the hometown dream school for the Florida native, and the Hurricanes have been recruiting Robinson for quite some time. Having Manny Diaz as the defensive coordinator could be a part of the reason Penn State is still supposedly in the running, as Diaz would have been part of the recruiting process for Robinson during his time as the head coach of the Hurricanes.
“It’s the same thing as Michigan. It might be a cold place, but it’s great,” Robinson told 247Sports when reflecting on his opinion of Penn State. “Great people. Great running back coach in Ja’juan Seider. We got a great relationship and we keep building it. When I went up there, it was an unbelievable place.”
The crystal ball predictions from 247Sports are heavily in favor of the Buckeyes, however, with Miami as the second-most likely team in the running. Michigan’s success with its offensive line has caught the eye of the four-star running back, and that happens to be a key area of focus for Penn State in the Class of 2023 after a disappointing season running the football.
Penn State did address the running back position with great results in the Class of 2022 with the addition of [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag]. But you can never have too much depth at a position like running back. If Penn State manages to shock the recruiting world with Fletcher choosing Penn State, that would be quite a recruiting victory for James Franklin and his staff.
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