Former Penn State football commit Aaryn Parks remains in contact with Lions
Former Penn State football commit Aaryn Parks is still considering the Lions even after de-committing this summer.
The beginning of the 2019 summer season was tough for the Penn State football program. At the time, it felt like just about anything that could go wrong — went wrong. It all started in the spring when now-former Penn State quarterback Tommy Stevens decided to enter the transfer portal suddenly after failing to get a starting nod from James Franklin.
Eventually, the Nittany Lions got over that loss, but more and more setbacks continued to occur over time. After losing one of their own enrollees, the committed players started to drop like flies as well. First, it started with a Michigan offensive lineman, Grant Toutant.
The three-star tackle prospect decided that Penn State was no longer the Big Ten school that he desired. Instead, Toutant wanted to re-route his college career to Columbus so that he could play for the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the situation was far from ideal, PSU wasn’t sweating it.
That was until others began to follow. Three days later, Maryland offensive guard Aaryn Parks put himself in a similar situation. While Parks didn’t fall in love with another program while committed to Penn State, he was beginning to fall out of love with the Lions.
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As Parks took on more visits, garnering more interest from some of the nation’s top schools, the four-star offensive lineman decided it would be best if he de-committed from Happy Valley and re-opened his recruitment for real. So he did just that, as two other prospects followed.
Out of the four de-commitments in June, only two have committed elsewhere. And as for the cornerback Joshua Moten, it was expected that he wasn’t going to be headed to Happy Valley in 2020 even before he de-committed. However, Parks still hasn’t backed out entirely.
Parks still in the mix?
When Aaryn Parks de-committed from the Lions, he made it very clear that another specific program did not dictate that decision. He just felt like he moved way too fast and pulled the trigger on his decision early. Looking at roughly 20 other schools who are interested, Parks decided it would be best if he gave some other programs a fair shot.
Lately, Parks has visited some of the nation’s top campuses in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. All schools, which Parks speaks very highly of. And even though he’s currently off of Penn State’s 2020 recruiting class, the former commit still hasn’t ruled them out. In fact, he remains in contact with the program.
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“Penn State is another great institution,” Parks said while speaking about programs which have brought him in for a visit, per Lions 247. “I was committed there but wanted to step back and explore my options to make sure that was the place for me. Penn State has a family environment and plays hard.”
While it seems less likely that a prospect who de-commits from a program actually ends up returning, Parks refuses to let that be the case. While some other schools might’ve fallen into favor for him, he still keeps the Nittany Lions on the radar for his next and hopefully, final commitment.