Ever since naming Deion Barnes the defensive line coach for the program, Penn State has been on a bit of a run with defensive line recruiting. Since the announcement confirming Barnes’ new title, Penn State added five commitments for the defensive line after having zero in the Class of 2024. And there may still be at least one more to come.
Penn State had a big weekend just before Big Ten media days with the additions of four-star defensive lineman Liam Andrews out of Massachusettes and four-star defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham out of Miami, Florida. The latest additions bumped Penn State’s already top-10 worthy class up in the national rankings as high as no. 5 in the nation. So, the logical question is whether or not Penn State can add at least one more prize to the haul.
All eyes could be shifting to the recruiting process of Jaylen Harvey from Gaithersburg, Maryland. Harvey pushed back his decision date from July 4 and could be approaching his new decision date any day or week now. Penn State has been considered a strong favorite to secure Harvey’s commitment throughout his recruiting process, but Penn State will have to beat out Maryland, USC, Tennessee, and Florida for the commitment.
dreams to reality pic.twitter.com/uPucsbC8r0
— Jaylen harvey (@JaylenHarvey_) June 19, 2023
Harvey is rated as a four-star recruit on the 247Sports composite player rankings, and he is the 12th-best player in the state of Maryland. Penn State has already received a commitment from one of the top 10 players in Maryland with safety Dejuan Lane. And as previously mentioned, one of Penn State’s defensive lineman commits, Xavier Gilliam, will be transferring to play alongside Harvey this season for his final year of high school football. Could that be beneficial to Penn State’s recruiting efforts? Only time will tell for sure.
The crystal ball board on 247Sports has been relatively quiet on Harvey. Two predictions in Penn State’s favor were cast back in October 2022 and there has been just one new prediction cast since then, in early June of this year.
The On3 recruiting prediction machine is also heavily in favor of Penn State, but again that figure is weighted heavily by predictions made last October. Perhaps it is a promising sign that there has been little movement on the recruiting needle, or perhaps there could be some drastic changes about to unfold.
For now, Penn State will hope to ride the momentum it has been on with defensive line recruiting.
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