Penn State football confident they will land 30 players for 2020 class

Last month, James Franklin said he believed Penn State football would land 30 players for the 2020 recruiting class.

The recruitment cycle for Penn State football’s 2020 class has been a roller coaster ride over the last couple of months. Back at the beginning of June, it felt as if Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin was beginning to lose his touch. Their very first prospect of the 2020 class, Grant Toutant grew disinterested in Penn State, as he made a decision to re-route to Ohio State.

Then the next week, not one, but two four-star prospects in Joshua Moten and Aaryn Parks de-committed from the program one day after the other. While Moten’s departure was pretty much inevitable, Parks’ was a bit of a surprise. He keeps the Lions as a possibility as he re-opened his recruitment, but his idea to back out in the first place was discouraging nonetheless.

Three seemed extreme, but then came the fourth prospect to go back on his word. Florida-based linebacker Derek Wingo decided it would be best for him to remain in his home state, rather than traveling up to Happy Valley to play for potentially the next four years. After losing four commitments, three of which who were four-star prospects, Penn State saw a rapid decrease in their rankings for the 2020 class. For a moment, they almost fell out of the top 30.

Fortunately, Coach Franklin and company remained confident. From June until early August, the Lions have acquired 15 commitments — not including those who have backed out. Suddenly, Penn State was back in good shape, cracking the top ten for their ranks. While other moves around the NCAA set them back a bit, a few more commitments over the next few weeks could give them a nice boost. Right now, Penn State has 21 commitments, ranking 15th in the NCAA, per 247 Sports.

The never-satisfied James Franklin mentioned in Chicago last month that Penn State is aiming to do something that doesn’t often happen — acquire 30 prospects for the 2020 class. Some believed him — others shrugged it off. Regardless of how anybody reacted though, Franklin wasn’t just blowing smoke. He was serious, and the recruiting team doubled-down on the statement just this past Saturday as well.

According to PennLive’s Greg Pickel, the Lions’ recruiting coordinators Tyler Bowen and Terry Smith are more than confident that the Lions will find their final nine commitments to make Franklin’s words valid by the time signing day rolls around.

During this month alone, Penn State has the potential to land three prospects who intend on making a decision. Then, they still have the fall where they will host some big names on campus for an official visit. Anything can happen over time, but snagging 30 prospects is far from out of the question for the Lions. They could be on pace to put together a solid draft class when it’s all said and done.