Oh, Goodbye: IN LB Josh Barajas Decommits from Penn State

I'm being told that LB Josh Barajas has backed out of his commitment to #PennState and has committed to #NotreDame

— Ryan Snyder (@RivalsSnyder) May 30, 2014

Linebacker Josh Barajas has decommitted from Penn State, and flipped his commitment to Notre Dame. While it's not a huge surprise considering Notre Dame is basically in his backyard, it's still a blow to the Nittany Lions. Unfortunately, I get a bunch of Crystal Ball points now, as does everyone else who predicted his final destination.

This hurts Penn State in more ways than one. With the commitment of Barajas, Darrin Kirkland Jr. decided to head elsewhere and recently committed to Michigan. So not only is Penn State losing one of its top commits for the 2015 class, but they have lost the chance at another one of the nation's top linebackers (barring a flip from the Wolverines).

Josh is still a fantastic player and a great person, so please don't wish any ill upon him. He grew up next door to the Fighting Irish so it was surely a tough decision to make in the first place. We wish Josh all of the best in his future, except for when he's playing the Nittany Lions.

Penn State now has one more scholarship to work with, that will probably be used on a linebacker. Manny Bowen is still a target for Penn State, provided he continues to keep his academics in order. We will have more on potential targets soon.