Committany Nation: Hawkins Ready To Decide, While Oweh Pushes Back Decision

Aeneas Hawkins Announces Top 2

The four-star Ohio defensive tackle cut his list to two, as Penn State and Cincinnati are Aeneas Hawkins’ final two schools, according to Cincinnati.com. Ohio State was previously in his top three, but it looks as though the Buckeyes moved on from the in-state defensive tackle.

Hawkins was once thought to be Cincinnati bound. Not only are the Bearcats his hometown school, but both his father and mother are graduates of Cincinnati. Despite the pull there, the tides have changed the last few weeks, with the Nittany Lions overtaking the Bearcats on 247Sports Crystal Ball. Hawkins had a great visit to Happy Valley for the Lasch Bash, and now will look to decide in the next couple of days. This isn’t a slam dunk for Penn State, but it’s clear that the Nittany Lions have the momentum.

New Jersey DE Pushes Back Decision

Originally planning to decide sometime in August, four-star Jayson Oweh will now make his college decision at the Under Armour All-American Game in January.

Oweh is down to Ohio State, Penn State, and Notre Dame, with all three schools likely to get official visits. The belief currently is that the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are in the better position to sign the New Jersey defensive end, but don’t sleep on Notre Dame.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good sign that Penn State is trending in the right direction. Ohio State was Oweh’s leader prior to his visit to Happy Valley for the Lasch Bash, so the Nittany Lions obviously did enough to catapult themselves back with the Buckeyes, if not being the leaders now.

Oweh’s a really, really smart kid. Both of his parents are Harvard graduates, and he himself has an offer from the Crimson. This decision will go well beyond the football field, so I don’t think on-the-field 2017 performance will greatly impact his choice.

Juice Scruggs Ready To Make Commitment

Four-star offensive guard Juice Scruggs tweeted Sunday night that he planned to commit on August 4, and while the Erie product quickly deleted the tweet, his mother later confirmed with Bucknuts247 that Scruggs would be deciding between Ohio State and Penn State this Friday.

Scruggs has always been an Ohio State-Penn State so it’s no surprise that these are his final two schools. But to be honest, I don’t have much of a read on his recruitment. Scruggs very rarely speaks with the media, and hasn’t done much (at least publicly) with the recruiting scene since he visited Columbus and State College for spring games back in April. Back then it was believed that Ohio State had the edge, but obviously so much has changed since then, I’m not sure that remains to be true.

2019 Five-Star and Four-Star Visit

Penn State hosted 2019 Michigan five-star OT Devontae Dobbs and four-star WR Julian Barnett over the weekend, according to Sean Fitz of Lions247. The midwest duo figure to be two of the more highly coveted prospects in the country in 2019, with both players holding offers from Alabama and Ohio State in the early going.

Jack Lamb Is Irish

In a surprising move, California linebacker — and Penn State legacy — Jack Lamb committed to Notre Dame over UCLA. Lamb had just named the Bruins his leaders on July 21, but had a change of heart over the following days, instead making the call for the Irish.

It’s disappointing to see a recruit that’s the son of two Penn State graduates end up elsewhere, let alone halfway across the country to Notre Dame. But this speaks to my point that I’ve held for a while now — Notre Dame is the hardest team to recruit against. If Penn State is going head to head with another school, I’d rather it be Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, etc. over the Irish. Call it the Catholic thing, but the Irish have a way of swooning recruits despite the fact that they went 4-8 in 2016. Also didn’t make a bowl, just saying.