Oklahoma 5-star recruit leading Sooners late push for top Penn State LB target Case Alexander

Through much of June, there has been a bit of a revolving door leading in and out of Penn State’s 2027 recruiting class. With multiple major flips and a few key commitments, Matt Campbell currently sits just on the cusp of the top-10 national rankings with 20 commits in tow. There are also a few top targets Campbell and his staff are still expected to lock down. 

Among that group, which includes in-state four-star wide receiver Khalil Taylor and Alabama four-star wide out Deshawn Hall, is four-star linebacker Case Alexander. According to the Rivals Prediction Machine, the Oklahoma native is favored to Penn State at 94 percent, but fellow Oklahoman and five-star Sooner commit Cooper Hackett is looking to change that. 

“I tried to tell (Case), if he comes to OU, he’s going to be a Sooner forever,” Hackett told Parker Thune of Sooners On3. “He wants to live in Oklahoma when he’s older after college anyway, so it only makes sense.” 

Matt Campbell should take note of Cooper Hackett’s recruiting pitch to Case Alexander

Alexander was a top target for Campbell at Iowa State, and that interest carried over to Happy Valley. While that’s certainly further from Washington, Oklahoma, than the already considerable eight-hour drive to Ames, the relationship between the coaching staff and the player seems to be the most important thing here. However, nobody is more influential than a peer, and Hackett, with his five-star status, could be a convincing one. 

While that certainly could sway Alexander, what could really threaten Penn State is a bigger offer from head coach Brent Venables and general manager Jim Nagy. In multiple cases, with defensive backs Semajay Robinson and Zachary Gleason Jr., and Jamir Dean, it has seemed as though Penn State balked at escalating asking prices. Campbell and Hoodjer appear to be fairly convicted about their financial valuations of prospects and willing to walk away if the price gets uncomfortably high. 

The problem in this case, though, is that Alexander is a priority recruit for Campbell, one that many expected to be locked down by now, and with the de-commitments of Robinson, Gleason, and Dean, Penn State’s momentum has stalled. That’s a big problem for a staff swimming in the deep end for the first time after building rosters out of three and zero-star recruits at Iowa State for 10 years. 

Even after the de-commitments, if Campbell lands Alexander, Taylor, Hall, four-star safety Cooper Ohnmacht, and either four-star guard Kyler Kuhn or four-star tackle Lucas Rhoa, his class will be in fine shape. All of those recruits look to be in play at this point. If he misses on one or two, that class will still be strong. If that group of probablys fractures into a couple of maybes and a few definitely nots, then Penn State is in real trouble. Alexander is one of the keystones of that group, and after his official visit on June 5, Campbell is largely out of opportunities to impress him, at least until the season starts this fall.

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