Ladies and gentlemen, Isheem Young!
The Skinny
Hometown/High School: Philadelphia, PA (Imhotep Institute)
Height/Weight: 5-foot-9.5, 201 pounds
Rankings: Four-star on 247, Rivals, ESPN, and Scout
Notable Offers: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU, Maryland, West Virginia
Highlights
The Tale
As you could imagine, Penn State has been recruiting Isheem Young for some time now. James Franklin and his staff offered the Philadelphia-native following his junior season. Since then, Young has been consistent visitor in Happy Valley, visiting Penn State six times in the last year-and-a-half.
Throughout Young’s recruitment, his top schools changed quite a bit. Florida State, Clemson, and Ohio State all were viewed as top contenders at one point or another, but there’s always been on constant school on top for Young: Penn State. Today, Young made it official, announcing his verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions.
Young is the sixth Pennsylvania prospect to make the call for the Nittany Lions, joining TE Zack Kuntz, LB Jesse Luketa, LB/DE Nick Tarburton, LB Charlie Katshir, and ATH Shaquon Anderson-Butts in Penn State’s 2018 class. Franklin will be hoping to add a couple more in-state prospects in the coming months, as Penn State remains in the hunt for DE Micah Parsons, WR Jahan Dotson, DB Kwantel Raines, and OG Juice Scruggs.
Outlook
Young has been at the very top of Penn State’s defensive big board for a while now, so this is a massive commitment. He’s pretty easily the highest rated safety prospect to commit to Penn State in quite sometime, as the Nittany Lions have signed just one other 247Sports Composite four-star safety in the last decade.
Young has packed on around 30 pounds of muscle in the last two years, now tipping the scales at 201 pounds. Similar to Lamont Wade, he’ll come in physically and skill-wise ready to go, and should see the field as a true freshman because of it. Penn State will be losing Marcus Allen and Troy Apke at safety, with Nick Scott, Ayron Monroe, Garrett Taylor, John Petrishen, and Jonathan Sutherland coming back, so the chance for playing time is there.
Welcome to Penn State, Isheem!