Syracuse flips Penn State football three-star offensive tackle commit

Penn State football suffered another recruitment flip on Wednesday, July 9 when offensive tackle Roseby Lubintus announced that Syracuse was a better fit for his collegiate career. The three-star recruit initially committed to the Nittany Lions on April 25.

“I realized Syracuse, [head coach Fran Brown], all the coaches there are the best place for me as a person, for football and the best overall," Lubintus said, according to On3's Steve Wiltfong.

Roseby Lubintus decommits from Penn State and pledges new commitment to Syracuse Orange

Lubintus is the No. 770 overall recruit from the class of 2026, No. 67 offensive tackle, and No. 12 student-athlete out of New Jersey. The Sicklerville, N.J. native visited Syracuse for an official visit on April 11 two weeks before choosing Penn State, but made it a point to visit Happy Valley throughout the recruitment period. Lubintus made an unofficial visit on March 16, 2024, the same day he received a Nittany Lion offer, attended Junior Day On Feb. 1, and took his official visit on May 30.

This is Penn State's second commit it lost its grip on. Four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone flipped his commitment on June 26 to Auburn. Falzone was originally committed to Virginia Tech in June 2024 before announcing his first flip to the Nittany Lions in April.

Penn State now has the No. 15 overall recruiting class of 2026, dropping down another spot. Head coach James Franklin was hoping to improve his No. 7 rank the Nittany Lions had before the end of June, but they succumbed to a series of losses and eventual flips.

While offensive line coach Phil Trautwein does have a small group of recruits to manage with, the Nittany Lions missed out on a huge recruit, Immanuel Iheanacho. The five-star plus offensive tackle committed to Oregon on July 3. It seems that four-star tackle Kevin Brown will headline the offensive line commits followed by three-stars tackle Jack Fuchs, tackle Marlen Bright, and interior offensive lineman Benjamin Eziuka. Coincidentally, Penn State reeled in the verbal commit from a different New Jersey tackle before Lubintus' flip. Bright, the Wayne, N.J. native, committed to Penn State over Illinois and West Virginia on July 5 and was the Nittany Lions' first commit of the month. Linebacker Tyson Harley was the second in July.

The Nittany Lions' top prospects are slowly getting picked off the board, so their primary focus should be retaining the commits they aleady have. Falzone and Lubintus turning away along with a vast majority of recruits left on the table not having Penn State as a serious contender should make Franklin redirect his energy to keeping those he has and potentially trying to flip a recruit until the December signing period comes around.