Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: June 21, 2017

Welcome back to the weekly look at all things Penn State football recruiting here at Victory Bell Rings: the recruiting roundup.

As the summer months carry on, so does the busy world of Penn State football recruiting. In college football, there is never an offseason for recruiting. However, this is especially true during the summer months.

In the past week, a lot has happened in the world of Penn State recruiting. The Nittany Lions have made the top group of multiple recruits, they have extended new offers, and one of their top targets has announced their commitment date. So let’s begin with this week’s recruiting roundup, shall we?

Penn State Makes The Cut

In the past week, a quartet of recruits have released a group fo top schools that included Penn State. These recruits are four-star defensive lineman Alim McNeill, and four-star defensive backs Houston Griffith, Isaac Taylor-Stuart, and Isheem Young.

Houston Griffith visited Penn State this spring and the Nittany Lions will get an official visit this fall. Despite these visits, there is a very slim chance he signs with the Nittany Lions.

As for McNeill and Taylor-Stuart, neither has visited Penn State in the past. There is essentially no chance of Penn State landing either player. That said, it still does good things for the Penn State brand to make the top group of these highly rated players.

As for Isheem Young, that is a completely different story. This past weekend Young was in Happy Valley, more on that below, and he has visited Penn State multiple times since January. He will announce his college decision on July 18, and it would be a stunner if he chose anyone other than the Nittany Lions.

LionSTRONG Camp

Over the weekend, the Nittany Lion coaching staff hosted their LionSTRONG camp. This camp featured high schools from various states competing in 7 v. 7 competitions. As a result, there was a lot of good talent on campus.

The high schools on hand included schools such as Harrisburg High School and five-star defensive end Micah Parsons, Imhotep Charter and Isheem Young, Merchyhurst Prep and Penn State linebacker commit Jesse Luketa, Pennridge and defensive athlete commit Nick Tarburton, and St. John’s College High School from the DC area, among others.

While Ohio State remains the school to beat for Parsons, this is the third time in less than two weeks that he was in Happy Valley. All Penn State can do is to continue to get Parsons on campus and do the best they can to get him back on board.

Joining Isheem Young from Imhotep were a slew of 2019 recruits worth keeping an eye on. Linebacker Omar Speights and safety Tykee Smith are two players worth monitoring. Neither has a Penn State offer yet, but that will eventually change for Speights and could for Smith as well.

In-state small school powerhouse Southern Columbia was also on hand over the weekend. This meant that wide receiver Julian Fleming was there, and anytime the Nittany Lions can get Fleming on campus, that is a great thing.

Along with Penn State, Fleming already has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Syracuse, among others. The class of 2020 prospect is well on his way to being a top 100 prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. He very well may end up the top prospect in the state for 2020.

New Offers Go Out

There were multiple players who earned Penn State offers at the LionSTRONG Camp over the weekend. One of the most notable was class of 2019 defensive back Keaton Ellis. Ellis is a State College native, and the Nittany Lions will be almost impossible to beat here.

Also receiving offers over the weekend were a contingency of players from St. John’s College. Class of 2019 running back Keilan Robinson, class of 2020 linebacker Mekhail Sherman, and class of 2019 defensive back Quinten Johnson were all offered by Penn State over the weekend.

St. John’s College High School is one of the best high school football programs in the DMV. Getting involved at a school like St. John’s never hurts. Hopefully, the work done at LionSTRONG Camp over the weekend can help the Nittany Lions start to make inroads at St. John’s.

Next: 2017 Player Preview: Saeed Blacknall

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