While Terry Smith was finishing up his tenure as Penn State’s interim head coach on Saturday at the Pinstripe Bowl with a 22-10 win over Clemson to finish the season 7-6, Matt Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer were hard at work on their 2026 recruiting class.
Without Campbell in place, Penn State signed just two players in the early signing period, four-star edge rusher Jackson Ford and four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone. Since taking over the job, though, Campbell and Hoodjer have flipped eight players to their 2026 class. The latest to join that group is former James Madison commit Ben Whitver.
The four-star wide receiver is the 10th member of the Penn State 2026 class, a 6-foot-2 wide receiver from Powhatan, Virginia, a high school teammate of 2025 Penn State four-star tight end Matt Henderson. Whitver signed with the Dukes on December 3, but was released from his signing as head coach Bob Chesney left Harrisonburg to take over the UCLA program.
Matt Campbell & Penn State have flipped the commitment of 3⭐️ 2026 WR Ben Whitver away from JMU! The 6'2", 190lb prospect is one of the more productive receivers in Virginia high school football history.
— Dylan Dawson (@PSU_Dylan) December 27, 2025
Whitver is the state's all-time receiving yards leader, and is 3rd all-time… pic.twitter.com/16znDJkRUN
3-star wide receiver Ben Whitver flips from JMU to Penn State
Whitver was a target of James Franklin’s before he was fired midway through the 2025 season. The 6-foot-2 playmaker received his Penn State offer in May 2024 and took an official visit to Happy Valley that summer, and again, twice, during the 2024 season. However, Franklin’s pursuit of the prolific pass-catcher seemed to cool as he locked in with the Dukes. Campbell and Hoodjer picked up Franklin and Andy Frank’s efforts and that has paid off with a commitment.
Whitver is the first wide receiver commit since Campbell brought wide receiver coach Noah Pauley to Penn State. Pauley also served as Iowa State’s passing game coordinator and has an impressive resume of developing three-star talent over his four seasons in Ames. Pauley played a major role in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel becoming Day 2 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft after an 11-win season in 2024.
In the final years of the James Franklin era, Penn State struggled mightily to develop the wide receiver position. Coming off a 2024 trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals, Franklin and his staff overhauled their wide receiver room, allowing Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans to leave for the transfer portal while bringing in seniors Devonte Ross, Kyron Hudson, and eventually Trebor Pena, who left Syracuse in the spring transfer portal window.