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FB Recruiting Rivals Spotlight: Surprisingly strong 2025 recruiting classes


Penn State always recruits well under coach James Franklin, but this 2025 class is flirting with top-five status. To grasp the significance of that, consider that Penn State has just three top-10 finishes in the 24-year history of Rivals team rankings.

But what really has my attention is the Nittany Lions are off to such a hot start this cycle despite changing both offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason.

Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is one of the bright up-and-coming stars in college football right now. He consistently has productive offenses and skill talent has already taken notice.

The Nittany Lions have a trio of running backs in the fold right now led by four-star

Alvin Henderson who could be a perfect fit in the Big Ten.

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen will certainly have more athletes to work with than he did at Indiana. The team is off to a strong start with three different four-star linebackers in Dayshaun Burnett, Alex Tatsch and DJ McClary.

FB Recruiting CONFIRMED Spring Visitors / Official Visitors

UNOFFICIAL VISIT SCHEDULE

March 12th

'25 QB Malik Washington (Archbishop Spalding - MD)-*
'25 TE Charlie Wingfield (Ramapo - NJ)+
‘25 DE Jayden Woods (Mill Valley - KS)*
'25 OL Isaac Sowells (Male - KY)
'27 CB Larry Moon (Aliquippa - PA)

March 14th
'25 WR Kaliq Lockett (Sachse - TX)*
'25 TE Andrew Olesh (Southern Lehigh - PA)*
'26 OT Adam Guthrie (Miami Trace - OH)*
'25 CB Dawayne Galloway (Marion Franklin - OH)*
'26 S Kaden Gebhardt (Olentangy - OH)

March 15th
'25 S JaDon Blair (Mount Tabor - NC)*

March 16th
'26 QB Narthan Bernhard (Ashland - OH)*
'26 QB Brody Coyle (Scranton - PA)
'25 RB Bo Jackson (Villa Angela St. Joseph - OH)*
'26 RB D'Antae Sheffey (State College - PA)+
'26 RB Messiah Mickens (Trinity - PA)**
'26 WR Dyzier Carter (Woodberry Forest - VA)*
'25 OL Hunter Albright (Hollidaysburg - PA)
'25 OL Cam Clark (Dexter - MI)+
'25 OL Mario Nash (Kemper County - MS)*
'26 OL Ben Nichols (Davison - MI)
'25 DE Mariyon Dye (Elkhart Central - IN)+
'25 DE Darren Ikinnagbon (Hillside - NJ)*
'26 DE Zion Elee (Joppatowne - MD)
'25 CB Brandon Finney (McDonough - MD)*
'25 CB Alex Graham (IMG Academy - FL)*
'26 CB DeMari Clemons (Grayson - GA)*
'25 S Tristian Teasdell (Tuscarora - MD)
'25 S JaDon Blair (Mount Tabor - NC)*
'25 ATH Corey Costner (Perry Hall - MD)*

March 19th
'25 WR DJ Vinson (Montgomery Academy - AL)+
'25 DT Jarquez Carter (Newberry - FL)*

March 21st
'26 DT Ryan Miret (Southridge - FL)+

March 23rd
'25 WR DeShaun Lainer (Chippewa Valley - MI)+
'25 S Elijah Dotson (Belleville - MI)*

'26 QB Troy Huhn (Mission Hills - CA)*
'26 QB Dia Bell (American Heritage - FL)*
'26 WR BJ Garrett (Middletown - DE)+
'26 OL Khalief Canty (Cass Tech - MI)*
'26 OL Darius Gray (St. Christopher's - VA)*
'26 OL Marlen Bright (DePaul Catholic - NJ)*
'26 DE Tariq Boney (St. John's - D.C.)*
'26 CB AJ Marks (IMG Academy - FL)*
'26 ATH Matt Sieg (Fort Cherry - PA)*
'26 ATH/DB Corey Sadler (Cass Tech - MI)+

'27 WR Javien Robinson (McKeesport - PA)

March 26th
'26 DE Kevin Ford Jr. (Duncanville - TX)*

March 27th
'25 S Aiden Manutai (Kahuku - HI)

March 29th
'25 QB Matt Zollers (Royersford - PA)*
'25 WR Cortez Mills (Homestead - FL)*
'25 WR Dawson Pough (Tuscarora - VA+
'25 WR Quincy Porter (Bergen Catholic - NJ)*
'25 WR Michael Thomas (Donovan Catholic - NJ)*
'25 TE Brody Lennon (Gilmour Academy - OH)*
'25 OL Ziyare Addison (Sumner - FL)*
'25 OL Amory Hills (Milford Mill Academy - MD)*
'25 OL Malachi Goodman (Paramus Catholic - NJ)*
'25 DE Landon Rink (Cy-Fair - TX)*
'25 DT Tommy Rupley (Belmont Hill - MA)

'26 QB Semaj Beals (Roman Catholic - PA)*
'26 QB Faizon Brandon (Grimsley - NC)+
'26 RB Amar'e Miller (Pickerington - OH)+
'26 OL Michael Gildea (Hun School - NJ)+
'26 OL Brody Smith (Bearden - TN)*
'26 OL Kevin Brown (Harrisburg - PA)*
'26 OLB Wydeek Collier (Neumann Goretti - PA)+
'26 CB Camdin Portis (Indian Lake - SC)*
'26 CB Samari Matthews (Amos Hough - NC)*
'26 CB Kyshawn Robinson (Westinghouse - PA)*
'26 ATH David Davis (Imani Christian - PA)*

April 2nd
'25 CB Graceson Littleton (Wharton - FL)*

'26 OL Brendan Alexander (Monaca - PA)*

April 4th
'25 DE Jayden Loftin (Sommerville - NJ)*

'26 CB Elbert Hill (Archbishop Hoban - OH)*
'26 ATH Marcello Vitti (Divine Child - MI)*
'26 ATH Ace Brown (Archbishop Hoban - OH)+

April 6th
'25 RB Alvin Henderson (Elba - AL)*
'25 OL Brady O'Hara (North Catholic - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
'25 LB Justin Hill (Winton Woods - OH)*
'25 S Axavier Bridges-Brooks (Rock Creek Christian - MD)*

'26 TE Mack Sutter (Dunlap - IL)*
'26 OL Immanuel Iheanacho (Georgetown Prep - MD)*
'26 DT Cam Brickle (Malvern Prep - PA)*

April 11th
'25 OL Rowan Byrne (Iona Prep - NY)*

April 13th (Blue / White Spring Game)
CLASS OF 2025
QB Bekkem Kritza (Miami Central - FL) -- PSU COMMIT
RB Kiandrea Barker (Miami Central - FL) -- PSU COMMIT
WR Lyrick Smauel (Erasmus Hall - NY) -- PSU COMMIT
WR Terrell Wilfong (West Orange - NJ)*
WR Qeanu Johnson (Hamden Hall - CT)*
TE Brody Lennon (Gilmour Academy - OH)*
OG Michael Gibbs (Hoggard - NC)*
OG Brady O'Hara (North Catholic - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
OT Owen Aliciene (Avon Old Farms - CT) -- PSU COMMIT
OG Thomas Dumais (Clearwater International - FL)*
DE Jayden Loftin (Sommerville - NJ)*
DE Randy Adirika (Miami Central - FL)*
DT Floyd Boucard (Miami Central - FL)*
ILB Ezekiel Marcelin (Miami Central - FL)*
LB Alex Tatsch (Latrobe - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
LB DJ McClary (Henry Snyder - NJ) -- PSU COMMIT
LB Dayshaun Burnett (Imani Christian - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
CB Xxavier Thomas (Central Catholic - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
CB Jaylen Bell (Grayson - GA)*
CB Charles Bell (St. Thomas More - CT)*
CB LaRue Zamorano (Centennial - CA)*

CLASS OF 2026
RB Messiah Mickens (Trinity - PA) -- PSU COMMIT
WR Travis Johnson (Oscar Smith - VA)*
TE JC Anderson (Mount Zion - IL)*
OT Carter Scruggs (Loudoun County - VA)*
ATH Hakim Satterwhite (St. John's College - MD)*

CLASS OF 2027
OL Maxwell Hiller (Coatesville - PA)*
S Colt Lumpris (Lawrenceville - NJ)+
ATH Elijah Kimble (Canisius - NY)*
ATH Javien Robinson (McKeesport - PA)
ATH Zachary Gleason Jr. (Chartiers Valley - PA)

CLASS OF 2028
QB Anthony Smith (Southmoreland - PA)

* - Holds Penn State Offer
+ - Holds Power Five Offer

BB Recruiting 2024 Hoops Transfer Portal Thread

It's that time of year again, PORTAL SZN! Similar to what we do for football, we wanted to make a dedicated thread to actual happenings in the portal. This first page of the thread will be updated with the running list of notable names in the portal along with guys that Penn State is showing interest in and each player will have their Rivals Transfer profiles linked as well.

GUARD
Otega Oweh (Oklahoma)
Jaden Schutt (Duke)
Freddie Dilione V (Tennessee)
Tony Perkins (Iowa) --> committed to Missouri
Clark Slajchert (Penn) --> committed to USC
Jordan Ivy Curry (UTSA) --> committed to Virginia Tech
Jacob Meyer (Coastal Carolina) --> committed to DePaul
Gibson Jimerson (St. Louis) --> returned to St. Louis
Jordan Derkack (Merrimack) --> committed to Rutgers
Marques Warrick (Northern Kentucky) --> committed to Missouri

FORWARD
Eli Rice (Nebraska) --> committed to Penn State
Grant Newell (California)
Cade Tyson (Belmont)
Brendan Wenzel (Wyoming)
Adou Theiro (Kentucky)
Koby Brea (Dayton)
Sam Alexis (Chattanooga) --> committed to Florida

CENTER
Kachi Nzeh (Xavier) --> committed to Penn State
Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Northern Illinois) --> committed to Penn State

Filip Borovicanin (Arizona)
Christ Essandoko (St. Joe's) --> committed to Providence
Amari Williams (Drexel) --> eliminated Penn State
Josh Cohen (Massachusetts) --> committed to USC
Lee Dort (Vanderbilt) --> committed to California
Tarris Reed (Michigan) --> committed to UConn
Carey Booth (Notre Dame) --> committed to Illinois
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"DT will listen to Iowa's pitch"

This, coming from a HVI respected and good poster @vhsalum over at GIA this morning. He states:

"Now the biggie - yes. Kyven was right. The AD has plans to talk to DT. She is dead serious about WINNING chips again. She's not particularly happy with Tom at the moment. The gambling, the ferrari situation, and this performance - she's holding Tom accountable and will be looking to do what will have us beat carl. She is VERY AWARE of the legacy of Iowa wrestling and how we're falling further behind. Like I told you earlier, she shut down AJ coming in in January - she's not a fan and isn't a fan of Tom's decision to bring the circus in. She also told Tom to get a hold of Terry - it's why he's been "less" in the corners.

Now how this got out? Not sure, but it likely means there are Tom loyalists who wanted it leaked. Because the plan was to wait until after the Olympics to talk to DT. So now that its out, not sure if this will accelerate talks or stop them completely."

"I've heard he'll (DT) "listen" - basically, the offer would have to be everything and more."

How would this work with Toms contract running through 2029? Will they both coexist or will Tom get canned for it to work?
"canned"


Interesting rumors for the Monday morning after!

FB Recruiting 2024 Transfer Portal Thread -- Spring Window Edition

It's that time of year again, PORTAL SZN! We once again are making a dedicated thread to actual happenings in the portal. I will be updating this original post as a running list of guys Penn State is showing interest in and each player will have a profile written on them and linked next to their name.

QUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACK

WIDE RECEIVER

TIGHT END

OFFENSIVE TACKLE

OFFENSIVE GUARD

DEFENSIVE END


DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Rene Konga (Rutgers)

LINEBACKER
Elijah Herring (Tennessee)

CORNERBACK

SAFETY


SPECIAL TEAMS

All time Penn State team: Before Cael

I narrowed it down to pre modern era, but after the 50s and 60s, for continuity. Feel free to make changes if you want. I disqualified any Cael wrestler who started out pre Cael.

118 Jeremy Hunter
126 John Fritz
134 Cary Kolat
142 John Hughes
150 Troy Sunderland
158 Greg Elinsky
167 Andy Matter
177 Jerry White
190 Phil Davis
Hwt Kerry McCoy

Feel free to make Changes

Olympic Trials parking

Olympic Trials parking went on sale this morning at 8am, so I clinked the link I was provided to get the 2-day parking package, for $60.


Once I got the receipt, it was only for the Friday, the 19th, and it indicated that the actual permits would be ready within 24 hours.

Anyone purchase this package? I'm hoping the permits are correct, as I don't want to fight ParkMobile over this.

Thanks.
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