Khalil Taylor rubbed serious salt in the Penn State wound with painful commitment troll

For a while, it has appeared that Pittsburgh four-star wide receiver Khalil Taylor was leaving the state of PA to join five-star quarterback Trae Taylor (no relation) at Nebraska. The former Penn State commit remained one of Matt Campbell’s top targets until the end, but the hope of landing him had seriously waned among Penn State fans. 

Then, for a split second on Monday night as Taylor made his announcement on the Rivals YouTube, it appeared as though Penn State had pulled the upset. It seemed as if Campbell had landed the top wide receiver his new program had desperately needed for years preceding his arrival, and that he had avoided the fate of going 1-for-20 on the top recruits in PA.  

“For the next three-to-four years, I’ll be taking my talents to the University of… Penn State,” Taylor (incorrectly) said as he put on the Penn State hat he had situated in the middle of the table in front of him. Then, just as quickly, he pulled the rug out from under those few Nittany Lions fans who chose to believe his words, tossing the blue and white hat away, replacing it with the Nebraska one just to its right, and revealed the Nebraska jersey he had hidden under the table. 

 Khalil Taylor gave Penn State fans false hope

Taylor’s commitment was originally scheduled for Noon ET, according to 247Sports. So, when it was announced that he would be committed at 6:00 p.m. ET, some Penn State fans took it as a glimmer of hope that Matt Campbell had come in over the top to change his mind. That, clearly, was not the case. 

Taylor is set on playing with Trae Taylor, one of the top QBs in the 2027 class, and it seems Penn State will have an incredibly tough time changing his mind now that he’s committed to Matt Rhule’s Cornhuskers. 

Asked if he had talked to Taylor about his decision, Khalil Taylor said, “For sure, we’ve been talking about this. I mean, I silently committed when I was up there, so he already knew about everything. It’s been business.” 

He’ll also be just as difficult for Campbell to replace in the class. This loss comes on the heels of 4-star WR Jamir Dean’s flip to Georgia and 4-star WR Deshawn Hall picking Auburn over Penn State. It leaves Landon Blum as the top-rated WR in Penn State’s class, which ranks No. 19 in the country, and there are very few options left to add to the group. 

So, as frustrated and upset as Penn State fans may be about an in-state recruit teasing them over his commitment, which had been decided weeks ago on his official visit to Lincoln, they’ll have to keep their hopes up that Campbell can convince him to flip back to the Nittany Lions. If not, every concern they have about his in-state woes and lack of elite recruiting acumen will essentially be proven true, at least for now.

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