James Franklin has been on a recruiting hot streak, landing four commitments since the calendar turned to May, and with official visit season kicking into high gear this weekend, the 12th-year head coach of the Nittany Lions could add a few more players to his loaded 2026 high school class.
Penn State’s 2026 class ranks No. 4 in the country with 17 commitments, and just added to a key position of need with four-star wide receiver Davion Brown joining the fray on Monday. However, Franklin’s group is still searching for a five-star headliner to keep pace with the biggest recruiting powerhouses in the country, and that player could be heading to Happy Valley on Friday with a group a 10 recruiting targets scheduled to make their official visits.
10 Penn State recruits scheduled for May 16 official visits:
- S: Joey O’Brien, 5-Star (Wyndmoor, PA)
- DL: James Johnson, 4-Star (Miami, FL)
- WR: Messiah Hampton, 4-Star (Rochester, NY)
- CB: Dorian Barney, 4-Star (Carrollton, GA)
- WR: Ryan Mosley, 3-Star (Carrollton, GA)
- CB: Camren Hamiel, 3-Star (Goodyear, AZ)
- S: Xavier Lherisse, 3-Star (Melbourne, FL)
- CB: Sean Johnson, 3-Star (Severn, MD)
- WR: Brian Williams, 3-Star (Lake Mary, FL)
- OT: Xavier Payne, 3-Star (Miami, FL)
These players are all priority targets for Penn State for a reason, but Joey O’Brien is easily the most coveted player of the group. The La Salle College High School product is a 247Sports five-star, the 31st-ranked player in the country, and he could develop into a two-way star for the Nittany Lions.
Earlier this year, O’Brien talked about how Penn State had presented a two-way plan to him, in hopes of landing his commitment. While two-way players are suddenly in vogue after Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy campaign in 2024, it’s still rare to identify somebody capable of playing on both sides of the football at the Big Ten level.
O’Brien is also being heavily pursued by Notre Dame and will take his visit to South Bend on June 20 after trips to Clemson, Oregon, and Tennessee. Penn State already has a commitment from another elite safety in the 2026 class, four-star Matt Sieg, but O'Brien is such a unique prospect that a position logjam won't dissuade Franklin or safeties coach Anthony Poindexter from continuing their pursuit.
Aside from O'Brien, the wide receiver group of Messiah Hampton, Ryan Mosley, and Brian Williams will be interesting to watch. Penn State has rectified its wide receiver woes in the short term through the transfer portal, but adding talent to that position should continue to be a priority.