Penn State Football: What do recruits value?

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 28: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions is soaked with the Gatorade cooler by Cam Brown #6 of the Penn State Nittany Lions after the Nittany Lions beat the Memphis Tigers 53-39 at AT&T Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin interacts with members of the Penn State student section prior to the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /

2. NIL

Welcome to the new era of college sports.

The truth is NIL matters to recruits and honestly who can blame them.

Football is a grueling sport that can result in serious injuries that can force a player to retire. Being able to profit off of their playing ability as quickly as possible is something every recruit should be looking at.

Now, there’s some legal issues involved here as in states like Pennsylvania, a school is not allowed to offer recruits money. As we know, there’s rumors around Texas A&M’s historic 2022 recruiting class that NIL played a big role in the success of that class.

While it can come off as ‘shady’ at times, NIL isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

The Nittany Lions can show recruits that there are NIL opportunities to be had once they arrive in Happy Valley. Landing current players big deals will help recruiting as you will have examples to show to recruits.

A group of Penn State alums started Success with Honor, which is an NIL fund for current Penn State athletes. The hope is that that will continue to grow, and other funds will emerge as well.

Keeping up with NIL will help teams keep up in recruiting.

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