With over 20 recruits on campus, Penn State’s first official visit weekend was easily the biggest for Matt Campbell, but official visit weekend No. 2, which started on June 12, may have become even more important. That’s because OV Weekend 1 included 19 players already committed, while Weekend 2 featured a few more recruiting battles up in the air, including for four-star EDGE Elijah Guertin.
The Warwick, Rhode Island, native was a top target of first-year Florida head coach Jon Sumrall, who has been lighting up the recruiting trail since arriving in Gainesville. However, after his trip to Happy Valley, Guertin has announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions.
Penn State has landed a big commitment from 4⭐️ 2027 DE Elijah Guertin, per Ryan Snyder! The 6'5", 250lb DE primarily chose PSU over Florida and Tennessee.
— Dylan Dawson (@PSU_Dylan) June 14, 2026
Guertin is ranked as the #190 overall player in the '27 class, the #18 DE, and #1 player from Rhode Island. One of the… pic.twitter.com/F5XuYyeXvl
Guertin is ranked No. 302 in the 2027 class and ranked No. 27 at edge. He still has a visit to Tennessee on the books for next weekend, but it’s yet to be seen if he’ll be making the trip to Knoxville since becoming the 21st commit in the Penn State class.
Elijah Guertin picks Penn State over Florida and Tennessee
Penn State’s first official visit weekend was something of an experiment for a powerhouse program with so many recruits coming to campus. At least to this point, it’s hard to categorize it as a success, considering that two commits have flipped coming out of that weekend, while three-star safety Caleb Cooper was the only commitment.
This commitment has restored positive momentum to the class, which is now ranked No. 9 in the country by 247Sports. It’s also quite a positive sign that Campbell went toe-to-toe with Sumrall, and Josh Heupel, for that matter, and came out on top. At Iowa State, he wasn’t often in recruiting battles with those caliber of programs, and Sumrall has been red-hot with 22 commits and a top-five class in the country.
Guertin, at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, is also a perfect fit for what Penn State wants to build along the defensive line under new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and new defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe.
The Nittany Lions have prioritized getting much bigger, both in the interior and on the edge, so while Guertin may have been a candidate to slide inside for previous Penn State staffs, he’ll likely stick on the edge for this one. Three-star commit Carter Blattner is in a similar position at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds.
Guertin is just the 1st recruiting battle Penn State needs to win out of OV Weekend 2
Landing Guertin was important, but it’s hard to say he was the No. 1 priority heading into the weekend after the two cornerback de-commits from Zachary Gleason Jr. and Semajay Robinson last week. Those departures left Penn State with two cornerbacks in the 2027 class, so converting four-star Dhillon McGee’s trip to Happy Valley into a commitment loomed large.
Campbell is in a great spot with the 2027 class, but a few outstanding battles still loom. This win over Florida and Tennessee for Guertin should continue to grow the fanbase’s confidence in him as a recruiter.
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