Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup 1/15/16

As of midnight on Wednesday the recruiting dead period is now over and the sprint to National Signing Day has begun. Signing day is just 19 days away, and there is a lot to be settled between now and then for programs around the country, including Penn State.

We will start with the news that caused quite a stir amongst Penn State fans on Wednesday night, Miles Sanders and his interest in Michigan State. The Nittany Lions’ 5-star running back commit has been committed to Penn State since July of 2014. In fact, he was the first member of the 2016 recruiting class.

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Over the course of the last year-and-a-half the Nittany Lions have fought off programs such as Alabama, Ohio State, and Pitt to keep Sanders committed. However, a serious threat has emerged in the Michigan State Spartans.

In talking with a source I was able to confirm that Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio is negatively recruiting Sanders big time right now, and it has Sanders somewhat wavering. For those who do not know; negative recruiting is when you tell a prospect negative things about the school they’re currently committed to or another school they are considering. In many cases what is being told in negative recruiting is a flat-out lie.

Luckily for Penn State, Sanders’ mother sees through what Dantonio is trying to sell and she is still firmly in Penn State’s corner. Mike Vukovcan of Pittsburgh Sports Now was also able to confirm these same reports.

Also according to Pittsburgh Sports Now, coaches from Michigan State, Pitt, and Penn State all visited with Sanders on Thursday.

As of now, Sanders is scheduled to take an official visit to Michigan State the weekend of January 29. This could be good or bad for Penn State. The good news is that in the next two weeks the coaching staff will visit Miles multiple times, put on the full court press, and his official visit to Penn State is next weekend. So it is very possible they may be able to nix the visit and prevent him from ever making it to East Lansing.

The bad news is that if Miles does take that visit then the Spartans get the last crack at him before signing day. A dead period begins when that weekend ends, making it impossible for the Penn State staff to pop in and visit him between his official visit to Michigan State and signing day.

This is definitely a situation to keep an eye on, and Penn State fans and coaches will be sweating things out with Sanders right down to signing day. It is going to be a war to keep Sanders in the fold, but James Franklin and company will be ready to fight.

Michael Dwumfour
3-star defensive tackle commit Michael Dwumfour Tweeted on Thursday that he will be taking an official visit to Michigan this weekend. However, he will still be taking his official visit to Penn State next weekend.

With how thin Penn State is at defensive tackle moving forward, and Karamo Dioubate’s de-commitment last week, holding onto Dwumfour is imperative. Penn State had coaches in New Jersey to visit Michael Dwumfour today, so they are aware of his plans to visit Ann Arbor this weekend and will do everything they can to keep him in the fold.

Ultimately, I have a hard time believing Michigan will have room to take Dwumfour. They currently have 23 commitments, and still have many top targets left on their board. Plus, Dwumfour does not even hold a Michigan offer at the moment.

Coaches Hit The Road
Sanders will be far from the only recruit that the staff will be out to visit in the coming days. Current offensive line commits Michal Menet and Will Fries will get visits from new offensive line coach Matt Limegrover in the coming days. Un-committed players who will get visits from the coaching staff include 4-star cornerback Damar Hamlin, 3-star athlete Khaleke Hudson, and 4-star linebacker Brendan Ferns.

Ferns will be taking his official visit to West Virginia this weekend, so the Nittany Lion coaching staff will not be able to visit him until Monday at the soonest. I continue to feel very good about where the Nittany Lions stand with the nation’s top inside linebacker prospect, especially since they will get his final official visit (January 29) and because he has a very strong relationship with new defensive coordinator Brent Pry.

New Target(s)
A new prospect emerged on Penn State’s radar this week when the Nittany Lions offered 3-star defensive tackle Amir Watts. According to Scout.com’s Alan Trieu, the coaching staff visited Watts on Thursday in hopes of setting up an official visit to Penn State.

Watts currently has an official visit scheduled each of the next three weekends, so the Nittany Lions will need him to cancel a visit if they are going to get one. I would imagine the weekend of January 22 is the weekend the staff will push for. The rest of the class of 2016 commits, as well as top targets Damar Hamlin, Kyzir White, and Khaleke Hudson are taking their official visits that weekend.

With the decision of Karamo Dioubate to change his mind, finding another defensive tackle between now and February 3 became very important for Penn State to do. I am very high on Watts, and hope that he can become that defensive tackle that they need.

Another name to keep an eye on is Upper Marlboro (MD) cornerback Sir Patrick Scott. The 3-star corner de-committed from Michigan yesterday, is a high school teammate of current Penn State cornerback commit Zech McPhearson, and is a player Penn State had interest in before. The Nittany Lions would love to add another cornerback in this class, and I would not be surprised to see them try and get Scott to visit campus at some point in the next three weeks.

There is also class of 2017 recruiting news to report here. On Thursday, Wilmette (IL) tight end Jake Marwede received a Penn State offer. Penn State joins Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Syracuse as power five schools to have offered Marwede thus far.

Wide Receiver Recruiting
Penn State’s top target at wide receiver continues to be Tre Nixon, and Nixon still appears to have a top three of Florida, Georgia, and Penn State. According to dawgnation.com, Nixon will take an official visit to Georgia this weekend and would like to take one to Penn State as well.

Hopefully the staff can get Nixon on campus next weekend. Nixon has not visited Penn State since July, and I believe if they can get him to take an official visit this month that he will end up a Nittany Lion.

Another name to continue to watch is Michigan commit and Tennessee native Nate Johnson. Johnson will take an official visit to Penn State the weekend of January 29.

If the Nittany Lions miss out on Tre Nixon the staff will put the full-court press on Johnson. As I said above about Miles Sanders and Brendan Ferns, getting the final visit from a recruit can be a major boost for a school. So, hopefully, that holds true with Johnson. Even if the Nittany Lions land Nixon, I would still love to flip the play making Johnson from Michigan.

The next 19 days until National Signing Day will be a whirlwind. Players will be taking visits, new offers will be extended, Penn State will gain more commitments, and unfortunately may lose one or two as well. Stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all of the up to date recruiting news surrounding the Nittany Lions.