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The post-July updates of the 2016 recruiting rankings from three of the four major services were released today, and there are some points of interest for Penn State fans. Let's go through each update:
Scout.com - Updated Top 100
Penn State commit Tony Carr's ranking remained fairly stable in this update, where he rose two spots to 37th overall as the nation's 8th-ranked point guard. Carr was unable to play during July due to a hip injury, and usually absence from play during any evaluation period means a drop in the rankings. Surprisingly, Carr's stock did not suffer from the injury.
2016 target Lamar Stevens rose to 69th overall, a nice position for the powerful wing player. Fellow PSU target Dylan Painter earned his first and, so far, only top-100 ranking from Scout in this update, slotting in at 96th overall. Ecin. Painter is currently taking an official visit at Villanova. He's expected to visit Penn State officially on September 12 for the football game against Buffalo.
ESPN.com - 2016 ESPN100
Carr held steady at 52 in ESPN's update. Another Penn State commit joined Carr in this update - Joe Hampton moved back into the top-100 by the thinnest margin, securing the 100th overall ranking. ESPN seems to have been higher than most on Penn State's last two classes. Food for thought I guess? I don't really have a conspiracy theory to offer here.
The only other player with any solid remaining interest in or from Penn State in ESPN's update is Sedee Keita, who comes in at 80th overall. One of Carr's Team Final teammates who did play in July, Stevens, fell out of the top-100 after previously holding down a slot in the 70s.
247Sports.com - 247 Sports Rankings
247Sports used to be fairly low on Carr, at least in comparison to the rest of the industry. The day before he committed to Penn State, 247 rated him as the nation's 154th overall recruit. The next day, a few hours before he announced, he rose 53 spots to 101st overall:
— Chad Markulics (@Chad_BSD) August 3, 2015
Today in their latest rankings release, Carr moved up 17 more spots to number 84 overall. Now I don't want to insinuate that recruits (football too) always fall in the rankings once they commit to Penn State, but, uh, this is strange. Good strange, but strange nonetheless.
2016 targets Keita and Stevens remained solidly in the top 100 at 78th and 89th overall, respectively. Painter made his debut in the top 150 in this update, coming in at 143rd overall.
Penn State commits Hampton and Nazeer Bostick retained three-star grades, but neither found a spot in the top 247 in this edition of the rankings.