Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: December 8, 2016

The Penn State football program continues to ride a hot streak both on and off the field. For as well as the team is playing, the coaching staff is recruiting even better.

Welcome back to Victory Bell Rings’ weekly look at all things Penn State football recruiting.

Right now, there are few programs in college football as hot as the Penn State Nittany Lions. This includes both on and off the field. And the off the field results should continue to show in the coming weeks.

The Nittany Lions continue to gain commitments, they continue to gain momentum with recruits, and they appear to be on their way to finishing the 2017 cycle extremely strong. Now, let’s take a look at the latest news in the world of Penn State recruiting.

Justin Fields Commits

Last Friday, Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class got their quarterback. Their quarterback came in the form of Kennesaw, Georgia, native Justin Fields. Fields is one of the top-100 overall prospects in the 2018 recruiting class.

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Due to the commitment of Justin Fields the Nittany Lions currently own the top recruiting class in the country in the 2018 cycle according to 247 Sports. Fields chose the Nittany Lions over Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, among others. You can read more about Fields and his commitment here.

Weekend Visitor

This weekend the Nittany Lions will host one official visitor. That visitor will be cornerback Donovan Johnson. The Detroit native has elite speed and, in my opinion, is a very underrated prospect.

Johnson checks in at five-feet-10, if he were over six feet tall he would be a top-100 recruit. He has incredible speed and athleticism, and he also has great ball skills in the defensive backfield. Additionally, Johnson is a player who could play both ways in college, contributing on offense as well.

For quite a while now Johnson has appeared to be a big Penn State lean. He has previously stated he would like to announce his college decision before Christmas. This appears to be a two-horse race between Penn State and Virginia Tech.

Personally, I am expecting Donovan Johnson to commit to Penn State this weekend. This would give the Nittany Lions 2017 recruiting class 16 members and Johnson would be their second cornerback. This is definitely a situation to keep an eye on this weekend.

Coaches Hit The Road

With the recruiting dead period looming on Sunday, Penn State’s coaches have been out on the road visiting recruits and commits this week. Some of the players the coaches have visited include class of 2017 linebacker commits Brailyn Franklin and Brelin Faison-Walden and defensive tackle commit Fred Hansard.

Memebrs of the coaching staff have also visited un-committed recruits such as wide receiver Jaylen Harris, cornerback Lamont Wade, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, and wide receiver KJ Hamler.

One thing that is for certain about this staff is that they are relentless recruiters. It was this way when the team was struggling and now that they are winning that certainly will not change. The coaches will remain on the road until the dead period begins on Sunday.

Lamont Wade Set For Final Official Visit

Four-star cornerback Lamont Wade has taken official visits to Tennessee, Penn State, and West Virginia. Now, this weekend, he will take his final official visit. This visit will be on the west coast to check out the UCLA Bruins.

The Clairton, PA, native is arguably the best cornerback in the country in the 2017 recruiting cycle. Due to this, his recruitment has been a hotly contested one. However, his recruitment is close to a conclusion.

Wade will announce his college decision on December 17 when he will choose one of five schools. The five finalists for Wade’s services are Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee, UCLA, and West Virginia. While Wade has yet to announce his decision, personally, I believe his mind is made up.

Wade’s recruitment will come to an end next Saturday, and when it does, I expect him to pick the Nittany Lions. It seems like Wade has been a Penn State lean for months. Due to this, I one hundred percent expect him to choose the Nittany Lions. And Wade would immediately become the highest-ranked player in Penn State’s already strong 2017 recruiting class.

Lamont Wade will graduate high school early and enroll at the school of his choice in January. Due to this, he will be in a position to make an impact as a true freshman next fall at whichever school he chooses.

Next: NCAA Tried and Failed to Damage Penn State Football

In conclusion, things are trending upward in a big way in the world of Penn State recruiting. Due to upcoming visits and decisions, I expect the 2017 Penn State recruiting class to continue to improve in the coming weeks. As always, stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all of the latest Penn State recruiting news.