Former WR commit Lavar Keys taking 2 Big Ten visits is brutal news for Penn State

There were many failings that brought James Frankin’s tenure at Penn State to its end, but one of the most overlooked in his final season was his program’s recent inability to develop wide receiver talent. That makes the de-commitment of 2026 wide receiver recruits Davion Brown and Lavar Keys even tougher to swallow. 

The Nittany Lions were forced into the portal to rectify the situation this offseason, and even that wasn’t enough. So, the influx of young talent was going to be crucial. However, that’s not the only reason that Keys taking an official visit to Maryland in November and a trip to Indiana is so crushing for Penn State. 

Maryland and Indiana finally punching back after James Franklin’s recruiting dominance

A DeMatha Catholic product in Maryland, Keys is located in a fertile Penn State recruiting ground. Franklin dominated in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area throughout his tenure, almost always at Maryland’s expense. Once the coach in waiting in College Park, Franklin reveled in his dominance over the Terrapins, but now, armed with revenue-sharing and a slowly developing NIL program, Mike Locksley has been striking a few blows. 

The Terps made a significant splash with four-star QB Malik Washington, who has been impressive in his true freshman season, and their 2026 class is headlined by five-star edge rusher Zion Elee, who was one of the Nittany Lions’ top targets. Plucking Keys away after Franklin’s firing would be another sign that Maryland is finally reestablishing its recruiting power, and until Franklin’s replacement is hired, former Penn State recruits will be ripe for the picking. 

Indiana, however, poses a much bigger threat. Long the doormat of the Big Ten, Curt Cignetti has turned the program into a natioanl championship contender through shrewd transfer portal acquisitions. Still, he hasn’t shown much ability to recruit high school talent, and unless he can do it at an elite level, it’ll be difficult to sustain his success. 

Cignetti just signed an eight-year $93 million extension to stay put in Bloomington, almost certainly a response to the opening in Happy Valley. He’s in it for the long haul with the Hoosiers, and that makes Indiana an attractive destination. 

If Cignetti starts to pluck recruits away from Penn State, and compete with Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame in the Midwest, the Hoosiers will battle for a spot in the Big Ten’s top tier. There’s only so much room up top, with Ohio State and Oregon poised to be perennial contenders, so Penn State could suddenly find itself on the outside looking in more often than not. 

Lavar Keys alone won’t swing the pendulum towards Maryland or give Indiana long-term proof of concept, but his recruitment does represent how fickle Penn State’s spot in the Big Ten might be in this new era of college football.