Penn State football Recruiting News: Early signing period, new 2019 offer

It will be a big week in the world of Penn State football recruiting.

With the early signing period being just two days away, this week will feature a pair of recruiting roundups here at Victory Bell Rings. First, the traditional weekly look at Penn State football recruiting today. Then, a recap of the early signing period at the end of the week.

This past week the coaching staff continued to hit the road visit recruits in both the 2018 and 2019 classes. Additionally, the staff extended their second offer to a Pennsylvania player in the 2019 class. A Nittany Lion commit has also announced that they will be playing in one of the nation’s most prestigious all-star games.

Let’s begin the first Penn State football recruiting roundup of the week.

Previewing the early signing period

For the first time ever college football will have an early signing period, but everyone knows that by now. The signing period will run from Wednesday December 20 through Friday the 22nd. Penn State football currently has 20 commits and, according to 247 sports (players planning to sign early have a sun next to their name), 19 of Penn State’s 20 commits will sign during the early signing period.

The only one who will not is athlete Shaquon Anderson-Butts. However, SAB is expected to sign on the traditional signing day in February as right now he is working toward getting some things in order in the classroom.

By the end of the week, most of Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class will officially be signed. Safety Isaiah Humphries, linebackers Jesse Luketa and Nick Tarburton, cornerback Trent Gordon, and tight end Zack Kuntz are all set to enroll early in January after signing this week.

Coaches hit the road

The past few days James Franklin and his staff continued to hit the road hard before the contact period ended yesterday.

On Thursday, Franklin, Brent Pry, and Sean Spencer were in Harrisburg. While the Commonwealth’s capital, they had their in-home visits with Anderson-Butts.

Also, the trio went in-home with SAB’s five-star teammate, former Penn State commit, and once again heavy Penn State lean Micah Parsons. Parsons is set to announce his commitment and sign his letter of intent at 9:45 A.M. on Wednesday. While he had a good official visit to Georgia this past weekend, it would be a major stunner if he did not circle back around to the Nittany Lions on Wednesday.

On Friday night, Franklin teamed up with Matt Limegrover and Ricky Rahne to pay a visit to five-star running back commit Ricky Slade.

In the opinion of many, myself included, Slade is the best running back in the country in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Look for him to make an immediate impact next fall as he and Miles Sanders look to replace Saquon Barkley.

Late in the week cornerbacks coach Terry Smith was touring the New England states to check in on some of Penn State’s top 2019 defensive back targets. Both safety Tyler Rudolph and safety Lewis Cine received a visit from Smith this past week.

Cine is a top-100 prospect for 2019, while Rudolph is someone that is quickly shooting up both recruiting rankings and Penn State’s board after a strong summer on the camp circuit and a big junior season this past fall.

A new 2019 offer goes out

While visiting Anderson-Butts and Parsons on Thursday, James Franklin and Brent Pry extended a scholarship offer to class of 2019 linebacker Andre White.

The Harrisburg standout now joins conerback commit Keaton Ellis as just the second 2019 Pennsylvania recruit to earn a scholarship offer. The Nittany Lions join Rutgers, Temple, and Uconn as FBS programs that have offered White. While there is still at least a full calendar year to go in White’s recruitment, if the Nittany Lions push for White at any point they should be nearly impossible to beat.

Class of 2018 commit earns a big honor

On Thursday, four-star class of 2018 offensive tackle commit Nana Asiedu took to Twitter to break some big news. That news is that he will play in the US Army All-American Bowl next month.

The US Army All-American Bowl is one of the nation’s most prestigious high school football all-star games. Partaking in the Army All-American Game and the events that go with it will allow Asiedu to refine his craft against some of the best high school football players in the country.

He will be joining Penn State targets Micah Parsons and Rasheed Walker in the Army All-American Game. The US Army All-American Game will be live on NBC on Saturday, January 6, at 1:00 PM EST.

Next: What can Stevens do in the 'lion' role?

That will do it for the first Penn State football recruiting roundup of the week. Stay tuned with Victory Bell Rings for all the latest news in the world of Penn State football recruiting, especially with the early signing period being less than 48 hours away.