Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: January 26, 2017

Welcome back to our weekly look at all things Penn State Football recruiting here at Victory Bell Rings, our weekly recruiting roundup.

National Signing Day is one week from today. For more than two years James Franklin and his staff have been busting their tails to put together a strong 2017 recruiting class. In one week, all their hard work will officially pay off.

With one week to go until National Signing Day, the Nittany Lions hold a top-15 recruiting class according to the composite rankings of 247 Sports. The 2017 Penn State Football recruiting class currently sits at 18 commits. However, I expect that number to increase in the next week.

In the past week the Nittany Lions have lost a commit, have seen their top target push back his commitment date, have extended some new offers, and have entered the final stretch drive to National Signing Day. Let’s begin this week’s Penn State Football recruiting roundup, shall we?

Dylan Rivers Flips To Virginia Tech

Let’s get the bad news out of the week quickly. On Sunday, four-star linebacker Dylan Rivers flipped his commitment from Penn State to Virginia Tech. This move was a surprising one. Especially with it coming on the heels of Rivers taking an official visit to Penn State this past weekend.

Dylan Rivers originally committed to Penn State back in November of 2015 and was seen as one of the leaders of the 2017 recruiting class. However, Rivers now intends to sign with the Hokies next Wednesday. There was a lot of misguiding behind the scenes by the Rivers camp here that caught both the Penn State coaching staff and the rest of the 2017 recruiting class off-guard.

You can read more about the de-commitment of Rivers here.

What Now At Linebacker?

Penn State’s biggest need in the 2017 recruiting cycle is box linebacker. Well, unfortunately, Rivers was the only box linebacker in commited in this class. So, what do the Nittany Lions do now?

Well, all eyes are now on four-star linebacker Ellis Brooks. The Richmond (VA) native received an offer from the Nittany Lions on Sunday. Additionally, he will take an official visit to Penn State this weekend.

James Franklin and Brent Pry went in-home with Ellis last night. Additionally, they also visited him at school yesterday. The Nittany Lion coaching staff have done all they can to put themselves in a position to make a move with the 4-star linebacker this weekend.

To be honest, unless something goes catastrophically wrong on his official visit this weekend, I expect Brooks to end up at Penn State. While Ellis Brooks is not quite the prospect Dylan Rivers is, he is still a very good box linebacker prospect. And landing a commitment from him on such short notice would be a fantastic recruiting effort by James Franklin.

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Brooks also holds offers from LSU, Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon, and UCLA, among others.

Tariq Castro-Fields Pushes Back His Decision Date

Originally, four-star defensive back Tariq Castro-Fields was set to announce his college decision on Monday night. Castro-Fields was set to decide between Alabama, Maryland, and Penn State. However, he has decided to push his decision date back.

Castro-Fields will now announce his college decision on National Signing Day. While he could still select any of his three finalists without surprising me, I still see the Nittany Lions as the team to beat.

James Franklin has already used his in-home visit with Castro-Fields, however, I would expect the Nittany Lions to send assistant coaches to see him later this week. While I expect Penn State to land a commitment from Castro-Field, it would not surprise me if he chose Alabama or Maryland either.

Recapping The Official Visitor Weekend

This past weekend was a big one in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions hosted each member of the 2017 recruiting class on campus. The members who had yet to use their official visits did it this past weekend, and those who had took unofficial visits.

Despite Dylan Rivers flipping his commitment to Virginia Tech, two huge pieces of news came out of the weekend. These two pieces of news involve class of 2017 commits CJ Thorpe and Mac Hippenhammer.

Both Thorpe and Hippenhammer were flirting with other schools. CJ Thorpe originally planned to officially visit Michigan this upcoming weekend, while Mac Hippenhammer was set to officially visit Notre Dame. However, after this past weekend both have shut down their recruitment, will not visit elsewhere, and both are set to sign with Penn State one week from today.

Below are some of the best Twitter posts relating to this past weekend.

This class is slated to be a very good one. The future teammates bonding together this past weekend is a great thing to see. It will be a lot of fun to watch their careers at Penn State unfold on the field.

The Drive To National Signing Day

Due to National Signing Day being just a few days away, it will be a busy week for the Penn State coaching staff. James Franklin will have in-home visits this week with class of 2017 commits CJ Thorpe, Des Holmes, and Mac Hippenhammer. The coaching staff will also go in-home with a slew of recruits that are either uncommitted, or committed elsewhere.

This weekend the Nittany Lions will host one last round of official visitors. Along with Ellis Brooks, the Nittany Lions will host at least two other official visitors — wide receiver Mark Webb and tight end Peyton Hendershot.

Mark Webb is committed to Georgia and Peyton Hendershot is committed to Indiana. Both players have the ability to be great playmakers in college. Additionally, both would be great fits in Joe Moorhead’s offense.

Hendershot does not hold a Penn State offer. However, if he were to receive one I believe the Nittany Lions would have a great shot at flipping the three-star tight end. So this will be something to watch this weekend.

As for Webb, for a lot of his recruitment he appeared to be a heavy Penn State lean. This changed toward the end of last summer and he then committed to Georgia in September. While I do not believe the Nittany Lions will flip Webb, it certainly does not hurt to try.

Some Class Of 2018 Notes

This past week Penn State extended multiple new scholarship offers to class of 2018 recruits. However, one to keep an eye on his linebacker Jesse Luketa.

Luketa, an Erie native, is a three-star linebacker recruit. He already holds offers from Boston College, Ole Miss, Michigan State, and West Virginia, among others. In my opinion, the Nittany Lions became the team to beat for Luketa when they offered him. I would not be surprised to see him show up on campus on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, the Nittany Lions will host a mini junior day on Sunday. Many of the Nittany Lions’ top targets in the 2018 recruiting cycle will be on campus on Sunday. Recruits such as Kwantel Raines, Isheem Young, Ricky Slade, and Shaquon Anderson-Butts will be on campus. I would expect some of the class of 2018 commits to also be on campus on Sunday.

Next: The Top Penn State Recruits From the Last 10 Years

National Signing Day is just one week away. Due to this, it should be a crazy week in the world of Penn State Football recruiting. The Nittany Lions are poised to sign their fourth consecutive top-20 recruiting class, and their second top-15 class in the last three cycles. And this class should still improve in the next week.

As always, stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all the latest news in the world of Penn State Football recruiting.