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Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup May 19, 2016

By Marty Leap

Nov 15, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lion mascot crowd surfs during the fourth quarter against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 30-13. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
Nov 15, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lion mascot crowd surfs during the fourth quarter against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 30-13. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O /
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Welcome back to the Victory Bell Rings weekly look at Penn State Football recruiting with this week’s recruiting roundup.

After a week off, sorry, it was a busy week with work, Victory Bell Rings’ weekly recruiting roundup is back. As the school year prepares to wrap up and the summer approaches, this means a variety of different things in the world of college football recruiting.

Summer camps, the summer evaluation period, new offers going out, a lot of visits being made, and an all around busy time for the Penn State Football coaches. All of that said, let’s dive into this week’s roundup.

Penn State Makes The Cut

This past Saturday, four-star IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) linebacker Jordan Anthony released a top ten list on Twitter. The Nittany Lions were among Anthony’s top ten schools, and this came as no surprise.

Penn State has always been in good position for the Maryland native, and you can read more about that here.  I still really like where Penn State sits, and still believe this will end up a three horse race between Clemson, Maryland, and Penn State. However, I do believe the Nittany Lions currently hold a slight edge.

Phil Jurkovec Commits To Notre Dame

In the not-so-good news for the Penn State football program category, five-star class of 2018 quarterback Phil Jurkovec committed to Notre Dame on Monday. Jurkovec, a Gibsonia (PA) native, is one of the ten best players in the country in the 2018 recruiting class and had a top four of Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Pitt before committing.

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Jurkovec choosing the Fighting Irish is not a huge surprise, as they appeared to be the leaders for Jurkovec for a few months now. What surprised me however was Jurkovec announcing his college decision when he did. Personally, I expected this to drag out a bit longer and for him to visit each of his top schools again before deciding.

I would look for the Nittany Lion coaching staff to begin to extend a lot more scholarship offers to class of 2018 quarterbacks, which is something they had begun to do a few weeks ago, now that their top target for the class is off the board.

Matt Dotson Set To Visit

Cincinnati, Ohio, tight end Matt Dotson is set to visit Penn State for the first time this weekend. The six-foot-five, 235-pound Dotson is one of the top tight end recruits in the country, and, despite having yet to visit Happy Valley, has Penn State in his top four. The four-star recruit is also very high on Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.

If the Nittany Lions are going to have a legitimate shot at Dotson, the coaching staff is really going to have to blow him away and wow him this weekend. Even though it may be difficult to do, James Franklin and company have been known to do that before.

Another factor that could help Penn State here is four-star quarterback commit Sean Clifford. Dotson and Clifford are both from Cincinnati, and they have a strong relationship. Penn State is most likely running fourth for Dotson, but the fact he is visiting and already has Penn State in his top four without previously visiting at least gives them a puncher’s chance.

Lamont Wade Update

Speaking of visitors this weekend, arguably the nation’s top cornerback, Lamont Wade, will also be in Happy Valley. This will be Wade’s fifth visit to Penn State since February as the Nittany Lions continue to trend in the right direction for the Clairton superstar.

Earlier this week I once again checked in with a source who recently spoke with Wade. My source told me that Wade is “Penn State’s to lose,” and that the Nittany Lions have taken over as Wade’s leaders.

The team who previously had been perceived as the leaders for Wade, the Ohio State Buckeyes, got a visit from him on May 6. So, it is always good to get him back on campus this quickly to nip any momentum Ohio State may have been regaining in the bud right away.

Wade, and maybe just as importantly his family, love everything about the Penn State Football program. His relationship with his would be college position coach Terry Smith has benefited the Nittany Lions greatly as well.

While I do not expect Wade to commit to Penn State this weekend, I do still expect him to end up being a part of Penn State’s 2017 recruiting class. If I was a beating man, I’d lay money down that Lamont Wade is committed to Penn State by the start of the season.

Penn State Makes A Move For Panasiuk

On Monday, the Nittany Lions extended a scholarship offer to three-star Roselle, Illinois, defensive tackle Jacub Panasiuk. If that name sounds familiar, it is because in the 2016 recruiting cycle Penn State was one of the finalists for his brother Mike before he committed to Michigan State.

Now the fact his brother plays for Michigan State and that he has a Sparty offer would appear to make Panasiuk close to a Michigan State lock, but never say never. Jacub, thanks to his brother, has already visited Penn State in the past and already has a good relationship with the coaching staff, which is very important.

Furthermore, Panasiuk released a top four of Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Penn State on Twitter Tuesday evening.

So, Penn State is definitely firmly in the mix here. Also, there are some rumblings that he may want to blaze his own trail separate from his brother’s. Obviously to do this, he would have to go to school somewhere other than Michigan State.

New Offer Out In New Jersey

On Wednesday, Penn State extended an offer to class of 2018 defensive lineman Dorian Hardy. The six-foot-five, 245-pound Hardy is a native of Montvale, and is a teammate of current class of 2017 offensive line commit Robert Martin.

The Nittany Lions join programs such as Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Michigan, and North Carolina, among others, that have offered the class of 2018 standout. Hardy being a teammate of class of 2017 commit Robert Martin certainly can not hurt the Nittany Lions. I would look for Hardy to visit Penn State soon, and we should then be able to gauge where the Nittany Lions stand early on for the four-star recruit.

Next: Penn State Football: Under-the-Radar Offensive Player For 2016

That will do it for this week’s recruiting roundup. As always, stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all of the latest news in the world of Penn State Football recruiting.

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