Penn State locks in official visit with highly-touted 2027 Alabama commit

Matt Campbell has yet to land his first 2027 commit, but he’s set his sights on flipping multiple players who are already committed to national powerhouse programs. Penn State has worked its way into the mix for Michigan commit Lou Esposito, and now the Nittany Lions have locked in an official visit with Alabama commit Colt Lumpris. 

Lumpris is the 15th-ranked tight end in the country according to 247Sports Composite, and the 6-foot-6 New Jersey native projects to be a matchup nightmare at the next level. He’s one of Kalen DeBoer’s four commits in the 2027 class, but he’s loading up a busy official visit season, including a trip to Happy Valley from June 19-21. 

Lumpris announced the visit on his social media on Tuesday. He will also be visiting Alabama nearly a month earlier, from May 29-31, and Andrew Bone of BamaOnLine has reported that he’s slated to add more OVs to his schedule. 

Matt Campbell is taking on powerhouse programs on the recruiting trail

At Iowa State, Matt Campbell hardly had a chance to compete with programs like Michigan and Alabama for the top recruits in the country. In fact, last offseason, DeBoer and the Tide flipped then three-star QB Jett Thomalla from an Iowa State commitment. Thomalla has since risen to four-star status and even earned a five-star rating from Rivals. 

Now that he’s at Penn State, however, equipped with the most resources and recruiting cache of his career, Campbell is facing recent national championship-winning programs head-on. How he fares will go a long way to setting the ceiling for the Nittany Lions under his leadership. 

Campbell is a proven program-builder, leading Iowa State to unprecedented heights during his 10-year run in Ames, and he’s built a reputation for developing three-star talent into legit NFL prospects. Having Brock Purdy on your resume goes a long way. However, Campbell has never waded into the four-and-five-star waters like he’ll need to if he wants to compete for Big Ten titles and national championships. 

While DeBoer and his general manager, Courtney Morgan, have assembled back-to-back top-five high school classes in Tuscaloosa, Campbell has more than a puncher’s chance of flipping Lumpris because of his proximity to Happy Valley and the recent turnover on Alabama’s staff.

Lumpris committed to the Tide when Bryan Ellis was DeBoer’s tight ends coach, but he has since been promoted to QBs coach, filling a void left by Nick Sheridan’s departure for Michigan State. Former Louisville offensive line coach Richard Owens has since replaced Ellis, and with his O-line background, he may not favor a player like Lumpris, who at this point is more of an oversized wide receiver than a true tight end