Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: September 14, 2017

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

With the start of the 2017 college football season it has been a busy time in the world of Penn State football recruiting. The Nittany Lion coaching staff is using the momentum of a great 2016 season, as well as a 2-0 start in 2017, to stay hot on the recruiting trail.

In the past week the Nittany Lions have picked up their first class of 2019 commitment, as well as hosting a big recruiting weekend against Pitt. Now, they are preparing for a surprisingly strong recruiting weekend against Georgia State on Saturday.

Let’s begin this week’s recruiting roundup.

Penn State picks up first class of 2019 commit

After defeating Pitt 33-14 on Saturday afternoon, the day got even better for James Franklin and company when their 2019 recruiting class got started. Three-star cornerback Keaton Ellis committed to the Nittany Lions on Saturday. This makes the State High product the first member of what should be a great recruiting class.

More from Victory Bell Rings

With the commitment of Ellis the Nittany Lions’ 2019 recruiting class debuts at number 28 in the composite rankings of 247 Sports. You can read more about Keaton Ellis and his commitment to Penn State here.

Visitors last weekend

This past weekend the Nittany Lions hosted a solid group of visitors as they defeated the Pitt Panthers. The group of visitors on campus was led by nine class of 2018 commits. These nine commits were Aeneas Hawkins, Charlie Katshir, Jesse Luketa, Justin Shorter, Nana Asiedu, Nick Tarburton, Shaquon Anderson-Butts, Ricky Slade, and Zack Kuntz.

Katshir, Luketa, Shorter, and Kuntz were also on hand for the Nittany Lion victory over Akron in the season opener. The newly committed Keaton Ellis was also in town for the victory, and he has also attended both Nittany Lion games this season.

Four-star Aliquippa safety Kwantel Raines was also in attendance for the Nittany Lion victory. While Raines has visited Penn State countless times in the past, this was his first visit since the Lasch Bash in July.

Raines would like to make a decision soon and is very high on the Nittany Lions. However, there is a good chance his window to commit to Penn State has closed and that there is no room for him in Penn State’s recruiting class. Barring something unforeseen happening to create space at Penn State look for Raines to end up at Pitt or West Virginia.

The Nittany Lions also had a strong contingency of class of 2019 players in town for Saturday’s victory. Top-100 linebacker Brandon Smith, four-star defensive end Joseph Wete, four-star safety DeMarcco Hellams, and three-star running back Jordan Houston were all in town. The Nittany Lions are in a great spot early on for each of these players, and appear to be the early leader for each.

Vistors this weekend

The biggest visitor on hand when Penn State hosts Georgia State this weekend is five-star defensive end Micah Parsons. This will be the ex-Penn State commits first visit to campus since late June.

Micah Parsons is coming off an official visit to Ohio State where he ruffled some feathers by Tweeting that Dwayne Haskins should replace JT Barrett as the Buckeye quarterback. Parsons will also take official visits to Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, and then Penn State this fall. Right now it appears the Buckeyes, Cornhuskers, and Nittany Lions are the teams to beat.

According to the guys at Blue-White Illustrated, top-100 class of 2019 defensive end Steven Faucheux will be attending his first ever Penn State game this weekend. This will be his third visit to Penn State since being offered in June. Joining him from the class of 2019 will be three-star wide receiver John Metchie.

Class of 2020 running back Chris Tyree will be visiting for the game. According to 247 Sports, Tyree is the fourth best player in the country in the 2020 recruiting class and the best running back. Catawissa native Julian Fleming, the number five overall prospect for 2020, will be in attendance as well.

Let’s hope the Beaver Stadium crowd is rocking on Saturday night to help make a great impression with Penn State’s visitors.

Next: How PSU Commits Performed This Past Weekend

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.

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