Matt Campbell added his 18th commit to Penn State’s 2027 class, which ranks No. 6 in the country, on Friday with quarterback Will Wood. That’s a significant group of commits, and official visit season hasn’t yet kicked into high gear. Most of Penn State’s official visits for this spring are scheduled for June, and as of this weekend, that includes three-star offensive tackle Lucas Rhoa.
Ranked as the 50th offensive tackle in the country by 247Sports Composite and the 585th overall recruit in the country, the 6-foot-5, 305-pound lineman from Orange Lutheran High School in Southern California will be in Happy Valley on June 12 for his official visit.
Rhoa took an unofficial visit to Penn State under Franklin in the spring of 2024 and returned to Happy Valley for Junior Day under Campbell in January. Texas and Oregon are also heavily involved in his recruitment. He has official visits scheduled to both programs, along with a trip to UCLA.
Orange (Calif.) Lutheran OT Lucas Rhoa has locked in an official visit with the Nittany Lions.
— Tyler Calvaruso (@tyler_calvaruso) May 18, 2026
Penn State O-Line coach Ryan Clanton visited Rhoa in California last week.
“He's got a plan. He believes that I can contribute early.”
VIP: https://t.co/J9Ah6Auh5b pic.twitter.com/8gOMXVemkG
Penn State sets June 12 official visit with 3-star OT Lucas Rhoa
James Franklin had laid a lot of early groundwork for the 2027 class before he was abruptly dismissed last season at Penn State. And one of those early commits that Franklin had in the fold was four-star offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt from Delaware.
Von Brandt decommitted after Franklin’s firing, but Matt Campbell was able to keep the Nittany Lions in the mix as the 6-foot-6, 280-pound rising senior named them as a finalist before his commitment on Monday morning. That announcement brought a surprise, but not one for Penn State, as Von Brandt chose Auburn over Notre Dame, which was viewed as the front-runner.
Von Brandt is a significant loss for the Nittany Lions, but Rhoa has been emerging as a new target for Campbell to pursue in the trenches. Now, with an official visit on the books, things appear to be trending positively for Penn State. Still, Rhoa won’t come cheap.
Coming from Iowa State, Campbell has a completely new level of resources at his disposal on the recruiting trail, and with his hot start, he’s been using them well. Still, Penn State is not quite on the level of Oregon or Texas, so if both programs make a hard push to land Rhoa, he’ll come at a high price. Even UCLA has bolstered its NIL efforts under Bob Chesney and is suddenly recruiting at an elite level.
Penn State currently has three offensive linemen committed in the 2027 class: three-star David Tarawallie, three-star Owen Reilly, and three-star Ryan Robbins. While he’s another three-star, Rhoa would be the highest-ranked, and that’s significant because Penn State’s offensive line has taken a hit through the transition from Franklin to Campbell.
Beyond graduating four starters from last year’s offensive line, Penn State lost six offensive linemen among its 47 outgoing transfers and now has missed on Von Brandt, a former Franklin recruit, and five-star Maxwell Hiller, the top offensive tackle in the country and No. 1-ranked recruit in Pennsylvania. In April, Hiller committed to Florida and former Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, who returned to his alma mater this offseason.
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