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Penn State Football’s top 10 recruiting pipelines of the James Franklin era

By Alec Whitaker

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 22: James Franklin look on against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania on October 22, 2016. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 22: James Franklin look on against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania on October 22, 2016. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Micah Parsons (Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports) /

3. Harrisburg High School (Harrisburg, PA)

It took James Franklin until 2017 to break into Harrisburg, but he was able to pull the big fish out of there, so he probably doesn’t mind the wait.

In 2017, Penn State signed 4-star defensive lineman Damion Barber. Barber would eventually transfer from Penn State after the 2019 season, but his commitment helped open the door.

In 2018, Micah Parsons re-committed to Penn State while at Harrisburg.

Parsons was not there during his first commitment to the Nittany Lions. Parsons’ teammate Shaquon Anderson-Butts was expected to join him, but the 4-star athlete did not enroll due to what is believed to be academic reasons.

Penn State came back to Harrisburg in 2021 and grabbed 4-star offensive lineman Nate Bruce.

Although half of the commits from Harrisburg didn’t work out, getting the best defensive player of the Franklin era makes up for that. Harrisburg will always have talent, so this relationship remains important.

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