Recruiting Roundup (11/25/2015)

This past weekend was the biggest recruiting weekend of the season for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Around 150 recruits were in attendance at Beaver Stadium, and, despite Penn State losing to the Michigan Wolverines, it was a successful recruiting weekend.

The weekend was highlighted by the commitment of 4-star Virginia linebacker Dylan Rivers. Rivers joins quarterback, and Ohio native, Sean Clifford as early members of the Nittany Lions class of 2017. Many other top targets for 2017 were on hand, as we will touch on shortly.

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First off, some class of 2016 recruiting news.

Penn State received an official visit from 4-star defensive back Joejuan Williams, and an unofficial from 3-star athlete Khaleke Hudson over the weekend. Williams has a top group of Penn State, North Carolina, Tennessee, LSU, and Vanderbilt. However, the Nittany Lions seem like a longshot here. Williams will announce his college decision on December 6.

As for Hudson, Penn State appears to be his leader but the status of his offer remains uncertain. It should also be noted that Hudson cancelled an official visit to Virginia Tech this past weekend to take an unofficial visit to Happy Valley. That was the third game that Hudson has attended this season.

South Carolina quarterback commit, and Council Rock (PA) native, Brandon McIlwain also made an unofficial visit for the game on Saturday. The 4-star prospect is slated to enroll early for the Gamecocks, but his future is somewhat up in the air due to South Carolina currently finding themselves without a permanent head coach.

I expect Penn State’s staff to make a very hard push for McIlwain over the course of the next two weeks. When he committed to South Carolina last January, Penn State was his runner-up. Furthermore, McIlwain has the physical tools and skill set needed to step in and start right away next fall. Especially after being an early enrollee.

It is also possible though that if McIlwain decides to not enroll early and play high school baseball this spring, that he could be a first round pick in June’s MLB Draft. That is another factor to keep in mind here. Personally, I would love for Penn State to flip McIlwain, as I believe he would be the most talented quarterback on the roster after Christian Hackenberg declares for the draft.

Class of 2016 commits that attended the game include running back Miles Sanders, kicker Quinn Nordin, cornerback Zech McPhearson, defensive end Daniel Joseph, and offensive linemen Michal Menet, Connor McGovern, and Alex Gellerstedt.

Cornerback commit Lavert Hill, who is slated to enroll early, was supposed to take an official visit to Penn State this past weekend. However, his high school team had a playoff game at 1pm Saturday afternoon, nixing those plans. This weekend, Hill will visit Michigan for a third time this season. For a long time, there has been speculation that Hill will flip to his home state Wolverines and, unfortunately, I believe that Hill’s flip will come this weekend. Hopefully, I am wrong.

Now for some better news! The group of 2017 recruits Penn State had on campus on Saturday was astounding.

It included players such as 5-star offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, 4-star linebackers Jordan Anthony and Nathan Proctor, 4-star offensive linemen CJ Thorpe, Jordan McNair, and Robert Hainsey, 4-star defensive tackle Cam Spence, 4-star defensive end Yetur Matos, and 3-star defensive ends Damion Barber and Jordan Williams.

Both class of 2017 commits, Sean Clifford and Dylan Rivers, were on hand as well.

With the exception of Isaiah Wilson, Penn State is firmly in the top two or three, if not the leader, for each of these recruits. And Wilson said after the game that Penn State “made a move” on Saturday, so it is very possible the Nittany Lions are now in his top group as well. The 2017 recruiting class has the potential to be very, very special.

Penn State also had some very elite 2018 talent on hand.

This group was highlighted by five-star defensive end Micah Parsons, 5-star quarterback Phil Jurkovec, and wide receiver Shaquon Anderson-Butts. There is a very long way to go with all of these guys but Penn State appears to be firmly in the driver’s seat for Parsons and Anderson-Butts, while also being in Jurkovec’s top group.

As the 2015 regulars season wraps up, the recruiting hot stove will begin to warm up. Signing day for class of 2016 early enrollees is only two and a half weeks away, while signing day for the rest of the class of 2016 prospects is just about two months away. Odds are we will also start to see more class of 2017 recruits begin to commit in the coming months, and more class of 2018 offers will start to be handed out.

The time off between the Michigan State game on Saturday and the bowl game will be used not only to prepare for the bowl game and to get in extra practices to help improve young players for next season, but also for recruiting. The coaching staff will be out visit recruits, recruits will be visiting for bowl practices, and there will be the big official visit weekend in January when Penn State’s class of 2016 commits, as well as their top remaining 2016 targets take their official visits to Happy Valley.

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