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Committany Nation (2.16.2016): Weekend Visitors, New Offer, and a Big Junior Day Coming Up

The 2017 recruiting cycle is shifting into high gear in Happy Valley.

By Matt de Bear
Priority 2018 recruiting target for Penn State, Ricky Slade
Priority 2018 recruiting target for Penn State, Ricky Slade
Ryan Bartow-247Sports

It was just 13 days ago that Penn State made the 20 member 2016 recruiting class official. In the non-stop world of recruiting, there was no time to catch a breath, with all attention turning to 2017, and beyond. The staff sent out a bunch of offers last week, with more going out since then, a couple visitors making their way to Penn State, and the early RSVPs for February 27th's Junior Day coming in.

New Offers

Trivia Question: Who were the last two players Penn State plucked out of the Lone Star State? The answer will come below, but I'll wait while you scroll down to find the answer.

Anyway, Isaiah Humphries may be a name that is familiar to Nittany Lion fans. His father, Leonard, was a three year starter for PSU in the 90's, playing with current Penn State cornerback coach Terry Smith. The younger Humphries is a 2018 safety prospect, with other offers from SMU, Houston, and Oklahoma. While he has yet to be rated by any of the major services, he figures to be a significant target for several programs over the next two years.

Penn State got a visit from Isaiah for the 2015 Blue-White game.

Brelin Faison-Walden is a 3-star safety in the 2017 class, hailing from Greensboro, North Carolina. The Lions are his eighth offer, joining Alabama, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida State, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Brelin has only visited the Crimson Tide, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina at this point.

Also in the 2017 class is another 3-star safety in Alabama's J'Marick Woods. He's a big dude at 6'4, 196 lbs. and holds offers from eight schools with Kentucky looking like the leader as of right now. J'Marick is the No. 336 recruit in the nation, per his 247 composite score.

A Couple Visitors

Penn State's big junior day is still a couple weeks away, but with Presidents Day giving many students a long weekend, a couple made their way to Happy Valley.

If these kids and their damn Twitter dot com names have you confused, we will let Adam Friedman from Rivals clear things up for you.

As Adam says, Ricky Slade is a 2018 RB, with a 5-star rating on the 247 Composite, and offers from Penn State, Ohio State, Florida, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Michigan State, 5b and Tennessee among others. This weekend marks Ricky's second visit to State College, with his first coming during last year's Blue-White game. PennLive's Greg Pickel has a good recap of Slade's weekend in Happy Valley.

As Greg mentioned, a second visitor was in town this weekend. That would be Austin Pyne, the large human standing next to new offensive line coach Matt Limegrover in the photo. Austin made the trip down from Ashburnham, Massachusetts. As of now, Auburn is the only school to offer the 6'4", 305 lbs., three-star prospect.

Very Good Football Player Likes Penn State

Jalen Gill is currently the top running backs in the 2018 class, with 247 ranking him the 19th best player nationwide in his class, the top player in Ohio. He has already visited Happy Valley twice, for last year's Blue-White game, and again for the San Diego State win in September. Aside from that, the Lions have another connection to Gill, with Ki-Jana Carter hailing from the same high school (Westerville South) just outside Columbus. Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes figure to have the inside track at this point, but with two visits to State College, Penn State figures to at least make things interesting over the next two years.

Junior Day Comin'!

With THON taking over campus this coming weekend, things will likely be quiet with the program playing a big role in the events at the Jordan Center. But, on February 27, plenty of talent will be in town. Greg's article above had the beginnings of a list that includes Pittsburgh LB David Adams, Wilmington, Delaware LB Avery Roberts, Clearfield athlete Ryan Lezzer, and Hampton, Virginia defensive end Elijah Conliffe. Linebacker commit Dylan Rivers, and quarterback commit Sean Clifford will also be in town.

With almost two weeks before the big day, expect that list to grow with plenty of other top 2017, and perhaps a few 2018 prospects joining the festivities.

Link$

Our good friend Sean Fitz at Lions247 has a few more names for Junior Day ($)

Sean also caught up with Ricky Slade and Austin Pyne ($)

Evan G. Watkins at VTScoop.com has an update on 4-star DE Yetur Matos ($)

Ryan Snyder sums up the current state of PSU's offers at the offensive skill positions over at BWI ($)

Ryan has the latest on New Jersey OT Carter Warren ($)

Trivia Answer

Anthony Fera and D'Anton Lynn

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