Penn State doesn’t always win the high-profile recruiting battles. Sure, James Franklin dominated the 2022 recruiting class by adding Drew Allar as the No. 1 overall quarterback, but the real strength of Franklin and his staff on the recruiting trail is early identification. When a relatively unknown recruit starts to garner some attention, the Nittany Lions are usually one of the first Power Conference teams to the party, and it almost always serves them well.
That’s how Franklin nabbed Allar’s likely successor, Ethan Grunkemeyer, developing an early rapport before the four-star QB exploded into a near top-100 overall prospect in the 2024 class. However, Penn State’s latest addition to the 2026 high school class falls into a different category of unheralded recruit.
Isaac Chukwurah is unrated by the 247Sports Composite rankings. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound edge rusher out of Bear, Delaware, committed on Tuesday as a zero-star recruit after receiving an offer four days ago.
1000% COMMITTED 🦁💙🤍 #WEARE @PennStateFball @coachjfranklin @DBarnes_18 @CoachJaxDL @tbrown_19 pic.twitter.com/21jmkzyuKe
— Isaac “CHUK” Chukwurah (@IsaacChukwurah1) April 22, 2025
Nittany Lions add zero-star recruit Isaac Chukwurah to 2026 class
Chukwurah is a relatively unknown recruit, but he has clearly caught the eye of Franklin and defensive line coach Deion Barnes. “Chuk” joins four-star edge rusher Daniel Jennings out of West Virginia as the only defensive linemen in Penn State’s now 13-player 2026 recruiting class.
The Nittany Lions' 2026 recruiting class currently ranks sixth-best in the nation, trailing Notre Dame, which knocked Penn State out of the College Football Playoff Semifinal last season, by one spot. USC currently holds the top spot in 2026, two spots ahead of Ohio State, which is No. 3 overall. Penn State is the third-highest-ranked Big Ten program so far.
The addition of Chukwurah to Penn State’s class will almost immediately shoot him up to three-star status for the recruiting services. A similar thing happened last year when zero-star tight end Matt Henderson committed to the 2025 class and was a consensus three-star the next day.
Franklin’s staff gets a tremendous advantage over its competitors because of its early talent identification and its willingness to be the first national championship contender to send a player an offer. “Chuk” currently holds offers from three Power 4 programs: Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. With this commitment, plenty of other offers will flow through, but Franklin often holds onto these types of unheralded recruits because his program was first to the party.