Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: Coaches hit the road, new offer goes out, and more

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

With the traditional National Signing Day now less than three weeks away (Feb. 7) James Franklin and his staff are working hard to put the finishing touches on their top-5 recruiting class for the 2018 cycle. They are also looking ahead more and more by the day to their 2019 class.

In the past week Franklin and his assistants hit the road to visit players. They also extended a new offer in 2018, and their top remaining target has a huge visit on tap this weekend.

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

Coaches hit the road

This past week, James Franklin and his staff have been busy hitting the road to visit players in both the 2018 and 2019 recruiting cycle. Two of the players to get in-home visits with Coach Franklin include four-star class of 2018 signees defensive tackle PJ Mustipher and wide receiver Daniel George.

On Sunday, James Franklin flew to Arizona to visit four-star wide receiver Solomon Enis. Enis then took off for Hawaii to play in the Polynesian Bowl where Penn State signee Ricky Slade will also be in action.

The Nittany Lions continue to appear to be in great shape with Enis as long as they have room with him. Upon arriving in Hawaii Enis gave an interview discussing his recruitment and you can watch that here.

Rasheed Walker set to officially visit Ohio State

Penn State’s top remaining class of 2018 target is top-100 offensive tackle Rasheed Walker. The Waldorf, Maryland, native is set to take his final planned official visit this weekend when he heads to Columbus to visit the Buckeyes.

Walker plans to announce his commitment on National Signing Day on February 7 and his recruitment is turning into a war between James Franklin and Urban Meyer. The Nittany Lions are currently Walker’s leaders and have been for some time. However, the Buckeyes will have a big chance to change that this weekend.

While the Nittany Lions have long led for Walker, Ohio State getting his final official visit is a huge hurdle for Franklin and Penn State to clear. If Penn State still leads after this visit they will breathe a big sigh of relief. However, I am not confident that will be the case.

Do not be surprised if Penn State assistant coaches visit Walker before he departs for Columbus on Friday and look for the Nittany Lions to push to get an unofficial visit from Walker before signing day.

New offer goes out

Class of 2018 four-star defensive back Julius Irvin earned an offer from the Nittany Lion late last week.

The Nittany Lions are now doing their best to get an official visit from Irvin. The California native have one official visit remaining, and it will be between the Nittany Lions and Alabama for who gets that visit. If Penn State gets an official visit, they have a real shot at Irvin. If not, he will go elsewhere.

Next: Early enrollee profile: LB Jesse Luketa

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.