Penn State Recruiting Roundup May 5, 2016
By Marty Leap
Welcome once again to your weekly dosage of Penn State recruiting news here at Victory Bell Rings with the weekly recruiting roundup. This week’s roundup is a bit less optimistic then recent weeks so buckle up and brace yourselves.
Anyway, here we go!
Joshua Kaindoh Commits To Maryland
In a move that, despite Maryland not being in his ‘top four,’ was not a surprise, five-star IMG Academy defensive end Joshua Kaindoh committed to the Terrapins on Saturday. However, his recruitment is far from over.
This fall, Notre Dame and Penn State will still get official visits from Kaindoh, and Michigan and Ohio State could as well. When you factor these things in with the fact I expect Maryland to only win foru or five games this season, I am willing to bet money Kaindoh does not sign a letter of intent with the Terrapins.
In my opinion, this has Dwayne Haskins 2.0 written all over it. Highly touted recruit commits to Maryland early, Maryland stinks on the field, player begins to visit other schools, and then player signs elsewhere.
Ultimately, I believe Kaindoh ends up signing a letter of intent with either Notre Dame or Penn State. But for now, this is a very good get for the Terrapins.
Nittany Lions Extend Three New QB Offers
Prior to Tuesday night, five-star Pine Richland star Phil Jurkovec had been the only class of 2018 quarterback to be offered a scholarship by Coach Franklin and his staff. However, in the past few days, that has changed.
First, the Nittany Lions extended a scholarship offer to four-star Southmoore (OK) dual-threat quarterback Casey Thompson. The Nittany Lions followed this up on Wednesday by offering a pair of class of 2018 quarterbacks in four-star Greenwood, Arkansas, native Connor Noland and three-star Denton, Texas, native Spencer Sanders.
Pulling players from states such as Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas will not be easy for the Nittany Lions. This is a very challenging task for any non-southern school. However, starting an early relationship with these players is important. And if the staff can get them to visit campus, anything is possible.
New York/New Jersey Opening Regional
This past weekend was The New York/New Jersey Opening Regional, and many Penn State commits and top targets participated. Class of 2017 defensive end commits Damion Barber and Yetur Matos, class of 2017 offensive line commit Robert Martin, and class of 2018 defensive end commit Micah Parsons all participated over the weekend.
The one star who shined the brightest, unsurprisingly, was Parsons. He showed why he is one of the top five recruits in the country for the class of 2018 by being absolutely unblockable, showing incredible explosion off the ball, and demonstrating great strength. In fact, Parsons was named the best player, regardless of class, at the competition.
Damion Barber, Yetur Matos, and Robert Martin all received praise for their performances as well. Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports said that Matos has ‘special’ upside, and that Robert Martin has all the tools needed to be a successful Big Ten offensive lineman.
Three of Penn State’s top class of 2017 targets also participated over the weekend. They were five-star running back D’Andre Swift, three-star athlete C.J. Holmes, and four-star wide receiver Mark Webb. All four of these players earned invited to The Opening’s national competition in Oregon this June.
C.J. Holmes was also named the wide receiver MVP at the competition on Saturday. Over the weekend Holmes told PennLive that he has a top three of Penn State, Syracuse, and Tennessee. Right now, I believe the Nittany Lions are the team to beat for Holmes. Holmes is shooting for a mid-summer decision.
You can read more analysis on how these players performed over the weekend here.
Mark Webb And D’Andre Swift To Head South?
Two of Penn State’s top targets are cousins Mark Webb and D’Andre Swift. Both are Pennsylvania natives, and both are players Penn State appeared to lead for at one point. In fact, Webb has even said on more than one occasion that the Nittany Lions are his leaders.
Webb and Swift have both stated they would like to play together in college, and there are a lot of rumblings that they may happen south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Swift has visited Georgia twice in the last four weeks, and is also very high on Alabama. On Monday, Webb, who tagged along with Swift on one of his Georgia visits, was offered by both Alabama and Georgia.
While Penn State was always going to be in a dogfight to land Swift, they now find themselves in an unexpected one with Georgia to land Webb. I still like where the Nittany Lions sit with Webb, he has come very close to committing in the past, but they now have their work cut out for them since Georgia has offered the four-star.
One thing that should benefit the Nittany Lions here is that Swift does not intend to make his college decision until after his senior season this fall. This gives Penn State a chance to show off Joe Moorhead’s new offense before Swift will decided, and I have always said that I believe the key to Penn State landing Swift’s pledge is an improved offense this fall.
That will do it for this week. As always, keep tabs on Victory Bell Rings for all the up-to-date Penn State recruiting news.