2026 four-star safety Kaden Gebhardt has chosen not to follow Ethan Grunkemeyer to Happy Valley, instead committing to play for Dabo Swinney at Clemson on Tuesday. Gebhardt and Grunkemeyer were teammates at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio before the four-star quarterback signed with the Nittany Lions in the 2024 recruiting class. Penn State was a finalist for Gebhardt who chose the Tigers over the Nittany Lions, Ohio State, and Notre Dame.
Gebhardt’s commitment is one of a flurry of additions to the 2026 Clemson class, which now features 12 players and is ranked No. 2 in the country. Swinney’s 15-player 2025 class ranked 26th according to 247Sports Composite rankings, the program’s worst class since 2010, the now legendary head coach’s second year at the helm. That disappointment has led to an NIL revival at Clemson, likely the reason the Tigers were able to pluck the 31st-ranked safety in 2026 out of Big Ten country.
Despite this miss, Penn State’s 2026 recruiting efforts remain strong. Franklin’s eight-player class is the eight-best in the country, and it is headlined by four-star in-state safety Matt Sieg. Sieg is a top-200 player nationally and by 247Sports rankings is the 74th best player in the class. His presence in the class could have also dissuaded Gebhardt.
Grunkemeyer was a late riser in the 2024 class, nearly emerging as a top-100 player throughout his senior season at Olentangy. The attention he drew helped Gebhardt gain exposure to major-conference coaching staffs and likely accounted for some of Penn State’s early interest.
Franklin was one of the first to lock down commitments in the 2026 class, but as the recruiting cycle has heated up this Spring, the rest of the country is catching up to the Nittany Lions. Franklin could use another big-time addition to rebuild the momentum he had over the winter.