Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: October 19, 2017

By Marty Leap

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions congratulates Mike Gesicki
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions congratulates Mike Gesicki /
facebooktwitterreddit

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

While the Nittany Lion football team may have had a bye week this past weekend, James Franklin and his staff certainly did not take a bye week from recruiting. While the players got a few days off, Franklin and his staff were hitting the recruiting trail hard.

On top of that, the Nittany Lions are preparing for their biggest recruiting weekend of the season this weekend. The Whiteout Game is always a huge recruiting weekend for the Nittany Lions. Factor in Penn State being 6-0, ranked #2 in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, and hosting #19 Michigan under the lights and it this will be a massive weekend for recruiting.

Let’s begin this week’s roundup, shall we?

Coaches hit the road

During the bye the Penn State coach staff hit the road for recruiting.

Last Friday, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was in Connecticut to check in on quarterback commit Will Levis. Moorhead then joined defensive coordinator Brent Pry in Erie to watch linebacker commit Jesse Luketa and Mercyhurst Prep in action.

Meanwhile, James Franklin and defensive line coach Sean Spencer were out and about on Saturday. Franklin was in New Jersey on Saturday to pay a visit to four-star defensive end Jayson Oweh, who is arguably Penn State’s top remaining 2018 target.

Also on Saturday, Franklin and Spencer took in Harrisburg’s over Central Dauphin. The duo was there to see athlete commit Shaquon Anderson-Butts, as well as five-star defensive end target Micah Parsons.

Huge recruiting weekend on tap

With the White Out looming, so is a huge recruiting weekend for the Nittany Lions.

Below is a list of visitors expected to be in Happy Valley this weekend with their star ranking in parenthesis. Player’s star rating is based upon the composite ratings of 247Sports.

Class of 2018 commits:

LB – Charlie Katshir (3*)
S – Isaiah Humphries (3*)
LB – Jesse Luketa (4*)
CB – Jordan Miner (4*)
OL – Juice Scruggs (4*)
WR – Justin Shorter (5*)
OL – Nana Asiedu (4*)
LB – Nick Tarburton (3*)
RB – Ricky Slade (4*)
TE – Zack Kuntz (4*)

Class of 2019 commits:

CB – Keaton Ellis (3*)

Class of 2018 recruits:

S – Kwantel Raines (4*)
DL – Tyreke Smith (4*)

Numbers remain extremely tight for Penn State in their 2018 recruiting class. Although, with Dorian Hardy no longer in the class there is no an extra spot open. Currently, the Nittany Lions have 22 commits and remain in hot pursuit of a few recruits. Smith could try to commit right now and would be given the green light. Penn State appears to lead for Smith but do not expect him to commit this weekend. He will take an official visit to Ohio State next weekend and Oregon in November, before returning to Penn State for an official visit in December. In the end, I expect Smith to end up in Penn State’s 2018 class.

More from Victory Bell Rings

As for Kwantel Raines, odds are, the Aliquippa native currently appears to be without a spot in Penn State’s recruiting class. This is despite the Nittany Lions seemingly being Raines’ top school. He plans to commit at the end of the month and all signs point toward West Virginia. However, if Penn State were to push for Raines at any point between now and National Letter of Intent Day he would most likely be a Nittany Lion.

Class of 2019 recruits:

DB – DJ Turner (4*)
QB – Garrett Shrader (4*)
WR – Kendrell Scurry (4*)
DB – Myles Bell (3*)
DE – Noah Potter (3*)
LB – Shane Lee (4*)
DB – Warren Burrell (3*)
DL – Zach Harrison (5*)

The biggest name on this list is Ohio native Zach Harrison. The five-star recruit would appear to be a Buckeye lock. However, this is his third visit to Penn State since March and the Nittany Lions will make Urban Meyer and company work their tails off to keep Harrison in state.

There is also quarterback Garrett Shrade. The North Carolina native camped for the Nittany Lions over the summer, earned an offer, and has been high on Penn State ever since. He has been shooting up recruiting rankings, is now a top-250 player, and will continue to climb. Penn State would love for Shrader to be the quarterback in their 2019 class.

Linebacker Shane Lee is a top-50 recruit and will be back in Happy Valley for the first time since the Lasch Bash in July. Lee is one of Penn State’s top defensive targets for 2019, and the Nittany Lions are probably the early leaders for the Baltimore product.

Wide receiver Kendrell Scurry is an intriguing prospect to watch as well. The former Tennessee commit recently Tweeted a top group of schools and listed Penn State as his current leader. The fact he is visiting so soon after that is a great sign for the Nittany Lions. This weekend the Nittany Lions could make a huge move for the top-150 recruit.

Out of this group, I’d tab the recent offered Noah Potter as potentially being on commit watch this weekend. He has always held Penn State in high regard while coveting an offer, and he finally earned that offer last week.

Class of 2020 recruits: 

DL – Bryan Bresee (5*)
DB – Sheridan Jones (5*)

The Nittany Lions will host a pair of five-star players in the 2020 recruiting class this weekend. Defensive lineman Bryan Bresee is the number one overall recruit in the country for 2020 and has already visited Penn State more than once.

Sheridan Jones is the top cornerback in the country in the 2020 recruiting class, and quickly set up a visit to Penn State after earning an offer last week. A quick visit after being offered is always a great sign of interest from a recruit.

As always, the overall visitor list this weekend will be bigger than what is listed above. Some players will make last second decisions to visit, and this is a list that I have been able to compose without stealing VIP info from our good friends at Blue-White Illustrated and Lions 247.

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.

Home/Football Recruiting