Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: January 28, 2016

An updated look at Penn State recruiting with less than a week before National Signing Day. 

We are just one week away from National Signing Day, and the mad dash for the Penn State Nittany Lions, as well as every other major college program in the country, is on. There is plenty of recruiting news to get to this week, so we’ll dive right into it.

New Commitment
Early in the week Penn State got some very exciting recruiting news. On Tuesday, 3-star kicker Alex Barbir flipped his commitment from Rutgers to Penn State.

This was a big deal for Penn State as the Nittany Lions desperately needed to add a scholarship kicker in this class. Barbir will take his official visit to Penn State this weekend, and you can read more about his commitment here.

Khaleke Hudson
Penn State received bad news on the recruiting front on Wednesday afternoon when McKeesport (PA) athlete Khaleke Hudson committed to Michigan. For a lot of Hudson’s recruitment the Nittany Lions led for the 4-star athlete. However, a great official visit to Michigan earlier in the month swayed Hudson to the Wolverines.

On two different occasions over the summer Hudson attempted to commit to Penn State. However, both times he was turned away by the staff who, at the time, was uncertain if there would be a spot for him or not. Not accepting Hudson’s commitment over the summer has come back to bite the Nittany Lions.

In my opinion, Hudson is going to be a star in college and will contribute as a true freshman on special teams. Not landing Hudson after being his top choice throughout much of the recruiting process really, really stings for the Nittany Lions.

Defensive Tackle Recruiting
In a move that was not overly surprising, 3-star defensive tackle recruit Michel Dwumfour flipped his commitment from Penn State to Michigan on Monday. Once Michigan offered Dwumfour and he took an official visit there, the Nittany Lions were playing second fiddle to the Wolverines. So his flip was no surprise.

Moving forward, Penn State looks to be in a great position to land 3-star Ohio native Antonio Shelton. On Monday night, Shelton de-committed from Illinois. Shelton also had a visit with James Franklin and Sean Spencer on Monday night. Furthermore, Shelton will be taking an official visit to Penn State this weekend.

I fully expect Shelton to commit to Penn State. It would not surprise me at all if he pulled the trigger during his visit this upcoming weekend.

Also, according to JUCO Football Frenzy, Nassau Community College defensive tackle Tyrell Chavis will make an official visit to Penn State this weekend. Landing a commitment from Chavis would be huge. The Nittany Lions have a big time need at defensive tackle, and Chavis would be able to contribute right away.

Recruiting In Florida
Penn State coaches have been busy in the Sunshine State this week, stopping in on a pair of 2016 prospects. One of the prospects to receive a visit from the coaches was wide receiver Dredrick Snelson. The Under Armor All-American, and Minnesota commit, got a visit from James Franklin and Josh Gattis on Tuesday.

Snelson is slated to take an official visit to Penn State this weekend, and the Nittany Lions seem to be trending in the right direction for the 3-star wide receiver. It will be tough to beat back the in-state threat posed by Central Florida, but as long as Snelson makes his way to Happy Valley this weekend I believe the Nittany Lions will have a great shot at landing his commitment.

Another Floridian prospect the staff visited this week was 3-star defensive tackle Rashad Weaver. Weaver had been committed to Michigan for over seven months before Jim Harbaugh pulled his scholarship offer over the weekend.

According to the Miami Herald, Penn State’s staff paid a visit to Weaver on Wednesday. This visit came a day after Weaver announced via Twitter that he had received an offer from the Nittany Lions. If Penn State wants to have a shot at Weaver, they probably have to get him on campus for an official visit this weekend.

Penn State’s need at defensive tackle is, obviously, a big one. So I would love to see the Nittany Lions get Weaver on campus this weekend in order to try and add a late pledge from the six-foot-five, 240-pound defensive tackle.

Lavert Hill
On Wednesday, the 4-star corner, and ex-Penn State commit, Tweeted that he will be announcing his college decision on National Signing Day. Hill’s three finalists are Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State.

While I see Hill as a Michigan lean, with Michigan State running second, this is still a situation to watch on signing day. Hill had a great official visit to Penn State earlier in the month, and at one point loved Penn State enough to commit. So you never know what may happen.

Visitors This Weekend
As of this writing, Penn State is shaping up to have a second consecutive big weekend in terms of visitors.

On top of Antonio Shelton, Alex Barbir, Tyrell Chavis, and Dredrick Snelson, prospects expected to be on official visits to Penn State include current class of 2016 defensive line commit Daniel Joseph, wide receiver Taysir Mack (Rutgers commit), and athlete Dae’lun Darien (committed to Temple). It is also possible that 4-star linebacker Brendan Ferns, who had to cancel last weekend’s visit due to the weather, could make the trek to Happy Valley this weekend.

As I said above, I fully expect Penn State to land a commitment from Shelton. Furthermore, I could also see Snelson and Darien flipping their commitments to Penn State as well.

As always, stay with us here at Victory Bell Rings as we continue to bring you all the latest Penn State recruiting news as signing day approaches.