It’s no secret that the lack of commitments in recent months has set up an uneasy feeling among the fanbase. With only eight recruits so far, the Nittany Lion’s class has tumbled all the way down to number 45 in 247’s team rankings. Relatively speaking, with eight on board, Penn State has already filled half of this year’s class. That number still puts Penn State way behind the rest of the Big Ten in terms of number of committed recruits, however. Minnesota, Purdue, and Illinois are the only Big Ten schools with less committed recruits than Penn State as of this moment (7 each).
All that said, things are about to change. Following this past weekend’s Lasch Bash event, three Nittany Lion targets have set their commitment dates. Safeties Brelin Faison-Walden and Jonathan Sutherland are set to announce this week, with Linebacker Brailyn Franklin’s decision coming August 2nd:
3-star OLB https://t.co/ARx806978O @prettiboi_23bra will make his college decision August 2nd. He visited #PennState this weekend.
— Patrick Loney (@PatrickLoney) July 17, 2016
Jonathan Sutherland’s commitment is set for Sunday, July 24:
I will be announcing my commitment July 24th!! #Michigan #Syracuse #PennState #BostonCollege #Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/4y0tvOTWvE
— Jonathan★Sutherland (@jay_suth) July 19, 2016
And Brelin Faison-Walden set to announce July 20 (today):
I will now be announcing my commitment this coming Wednesday, July 20th at 3PM at kick back jacks before the east / west football game
— جنگنده (@BrelinFaison) July 17, 2016
The Crystal Ball are trending in Penn State’s direction for all three targets, so there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing sirens in the near future. Also, while his decision won’t come until after his high school season is over, the Crystal Ball for Cornerback Lamont Wade has recently flipped to Penn State, with Steve Wiltfong having picked the Nittany Lions on July 18th.
In other recruiting news
Wide Receiver Mark Webb released his top six, and Penn State made the cut:
Top 6..........
— XVIII (@humblehead_mark) July 15, 2016
@Hayesfawcett3 wit the edit pic.twitter.com/Zb7wJkDu7e
Webb is widely believed to have Georgia atop his list, but it’s always good to see Penn State make the final cut for highly-rated recruits. Webb is the number 15 wide receiver in the nation according to 247’s composite rankings. The word on the street is that Webb is set to announce sometime in August.
Penn State also made the cut for Defensive Tackle Fred Hansard, who released his top nine on July 11:
G O D B L E S S. ® pic.twitter.com/5QCPvUgfP4
— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard56) July 12, 2016
It’s worth noting that this list didn’t change from the one he released in May.
Another DT who recently released his top schools is Donovan Jeter, who did so a few weeks ago:
#Summer16 Top 9 pic.twitter.com/cs3VXYtK4M
— 5⃣God (@JeteNificent34) July 8, 2016
Jeter will be trimming his list to five in August, and those will be the schools he’ll take official visits to.
Lastly, Cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields released his top six after his visit this past weekend, and Penn State made the list:
TOP 6 pic.twitter.com/jvve3RlxoB
— Tariq Castro-Fields (@ayeewonton) July 20, 2016
Castro-Fields didn’t announce a commitment date, but his decision will come from one of the six schools listed above.
That’s it for today. Let the commit watch begin!