Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: Nittany Lions close out regular season
Things are heating up for Penn State football recruiting.
Penn State football recruiting is thriving. PSU received their first commitment in the Class of 2020 as they closed out the regular season with a big win over Maryland. Let’s see what’s going on in the recruiting circle for the Nittany Lions.
Class of 2020 OL Commits
Six-foot-six, 280-pound offensive lineman Grant Toutant (Warren, MI) announced that he will be playing college football at Penn State. Toutant is the first commit in the Class of 2020, and he brings athleticism, size and intellect.
Toutant chose PSU over Indiana, Duke, Wisconsin and Pitt.
Brandon Smith named finalist for nation’s top linebacker
Linebacker U is back. Five-star linebacker Brandon Smith was named a finalist for the 2018 Butkus Award (High School watchlist). Penn State football recruiting scored a major win when Smith committed to the team. He’s arguably the best linebacker in the Class of 2019.
The fifth and final Butkus award finalist is Brandon Smith 6‘5“ 215 Louisa County, VA.@brandon_smith12 pic.twitter.com/rAfNvCaC2E
— Tom Lemming (@LemmingReport) November 19, 2018
Smith was named Defensive Player of The Year in his district. His storied career came to an end recently when Louisa County lost in the second round of the state playoffs. Smith was all over the field this past season (128 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks and three forced fumbles).
Smith will enroll early alongside fellow Class of 2019 linebacker Lance Dixon. Imagining the site of both of these defensive studs on the field is frightening for opposing teams and exciting for Penn State football fans.
Faces in the crowd
The weather wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t stop recruits from taking in the sites and sounds of Beaver Stadium this past weekend, as Penn State dominated Big Ten opponent Maryland 38-3. Long snapper and Class of 2019 commit Austin Sullivan tweeted out this photo.
Next home game in this stadium me and the boys will be playin’ together👀🦁 That’s a scary sentence.... @caedanw @brand0n_smith12 @JaquanBrisker @RumeryIsaac @TsunamiFord @anthonydasilva_ @Lance___Dixon @brentonstrange_ @_keatonellis @SimmonsDaekwon @hakeem_beamon pic.twitter.com/jb8vr9kbTN
— Austin Sullivan (@OfficialSully56) November 25, 2018
Some prospects from the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 were watching the game as well.
Leron Husbands, 6-3, 191-pounds, WR (Washington, DC), Class of 2021
https://twitter.com/RONN10K/status/1066476498528468993
Elijah Jeudy, 6-2, 215-pounds, DE (Philadelphia, PA), Class of 2021
So much love was shown from when I walked in and when I walked out I’m so glad @PennStateFball gave me the opportunity to come down and check out there program, I surely will come back 🦁 pic.twitter.com/NsVHkmXJPM
— Elijah Jeudy1️⃣6️⃣ (@ElijahJeudy) November 25, 2018
Barkley is back at PSU … Sort of
A player with a familiar last name was roaming the sidelines this past Saturday. Ali Barkley, brother of Penn State great Saquon Barkley, was in attendance for Penn State’s game against Maryland.
It is always so good to see @coachjfranklin, @SpenceChaos, and @knnysndrs at Happy Valley... especially after a W. Thanks for having me up here today. See you all soon. pic.twitter.com/qDbKaIi0oe
— Ali Barkley (@barkley_33) November 25, 2018
Like his brother, Ali plays at Whitehall High School, and he’s a running back. Rutgers, Pitt, Temple and Penn State are the schools currently interested in Barkley, but none have offered the 5-11, 190-pound junior.
Penn State football recruiting is focused on adding the best possible players to the roster, and Barkley could be a good fit.
Penn State Football: Players of the game against Maryland. dark. Next
Tune in for next week’s edition of Recruiting Roundup.