Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: November 2, 2017

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

While the now No. 7 Nittany Lions are coming off a gut-wrenching loss to now No. 6 Ohio State, there is no rest for the coaching staff on the recruiting trail. With the early signing period of December 20 – 22 now just a little over a month away, it is a busy time in the world of Penn State football recruiting.

This past week the Nittany Lion coaching staff hit the road to visit both class of 2018 targets and commits. Additionally, a pair of Penn State’s remaining class of 2018 targets have set their commitment dates.

Let’s begin this week’s Penn State football recruiting roundup.

Penn State coaches hit the road

Prior to their heartbreaking loss to the Buckeyes on Saturday, James Franklin and company spent Friday night visiting class of 2018 targets and commits.

Four-star defensive tackle commit Aeneas Hawkins got a visit in Cincinnati from James Franklin and Sean Spencer on Friday. Also in the Buckeye State, Franklin and Spencer swung through Cleveland to visit four-star defensive line target Tyreke Smith. At this point of the cycle, it can be argued that Smith is Penn State’s top remaining class of 2018 target.

Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith spent Friday night in the state of Florida. He was checking out the matchup between three-star defensive tackle commit Judge Culpepper and four-star cornerback commit Jordan Miner. Culpepper and the Plant Panthers were 56-36 winners.

Two 2018 targets set their commitment dates

There is not much room remaining in Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class. However, two players the Nittany Lions continue to pursue are five-star defensive end Micah Parsons and the aforementioned Tyreke Smith.

It is now known when both Parsons and Smith will commit. The first of the two will be Parsons on December 20th.

Parsons, of course, is a former Penn State commit. He committed to the Nittany Lions in February 2016 before de-committing in April of 2017. For a long time Parsons seemed like an Ohio State lock. Well, after some poorly received Tweets among the Buckeye coaching staff Ohio State does not appear to be much of a factor any longer.

Micah Parsons most recently visited Penn State in September for the Nittany Lions’ victory over Georgia State. Since then he has taken official visits to Nebraska and Oklahoma. He plans to visit Penn State again before making his decision, and signing his letter of intent, on December 20th.

At this point, it appears the Nittany Lions are emerging as the team to beat. Barring a change, I expect the Nittany Lions to pick up the rare re-commitment from Micah Parsons on December 20th.

As for Tyreke Smith, he will announce his college decision on January 4th.

This past weekend Smith took an official visit to Ohio State, he has also officially visited USC and Alabama this season. Additionally, he took an unofficial visit to Penn State to watch the Nittany Lions decimate Michigan under the lights last month.

Next up for Smith is an official visit to Oregon later this month and then an official visit to Penn State the weekend of December 8th. This is the same weekend Penn State’s 2018 commits will be making their official visits to Happy Valley.

As the Tweet above lays out, Smith will announce live on ESPN during the Under Armor All-American Game on January 4th. If Smith chooses the Nittany Lions, which at this moment seems likely, it will not just be a great recruiting win for James Franklin and company, but also great publicity for the program.

Next: 3 players to watch vs Michigan State

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.