WEEKEND OFFICIAL VISITORS

It was another busy weekend of official visitors in Happy Valley. In addition to new defensive line commit Coziah Izzard and wide receiver commit Jaden Dottin, the new Nittany Lions hosted multiple other official visitors, one of which was three-star tight end Kole Taylor.

Taylor hails from Grand Junction, Colorado. This was his first visit to campus, but this is a recruitment that appears to be pretty wide open. As the Nittany Lions continue to search for a tight end in their class, Taylor’s name is one worth remembering.

Another official visitor was four-star Florida wide receiver commit Jaquavion Fraziars.

Although Fraziars is committed to Florida, obviously his recruitment is far from over or else he would not be taking official visits to other schools. While pulling Fraziars out of Florida would be a huge task, getting a four-star kid from Florida on campus is never a bad thing.

Speaking of wide receivers committed elsewhere, four-star North Carolina commit Josh Downs was also on campus. Downs was offered by the Nittany Lions on April 30th, which came after he committed to UNC, and he has admitted to growing up a Penn State fan.

In an interview with Nate Bauer of Blue White Illustrated, Down had some glowing things to say about the Nittany Lions. It’s a free article by BWI so go ahead and take a look yourself, but it certainly paints the picture that Penn State is in a very good position.

Defensive back Mordecai McDaniel also took an official visit to Penn State this weekend.

McDaniel attends St. Johns’s College High School in Washington D.C. The three-star has been on an official tour this summer visiting Florida, Notre Dame, and Tennessee in addition to Penn State.

UNDERCLASSMEN UNOFFICIAL VISITORS

There was a pair of big 2021 unofficial visitors from New England in town over the weekend: linebacker James Wilborn Jr. and tight end Louis Hansen.

Wilborn Jr. worked out for the staff as part of camp and is an early four-star from Avon Old Farms, which is the same school that produced freshman cornerback Marquis Wilson.

Hansen hails from Needham, Massachusetts. Also like Wilbron Jr., Hansen is already a four-star recruit. Penn State has had a lot of success recruiting New England in recent years, and forging early relationships in these recruitments could lead to more success in New England.

2021 four-star New Jersey defensive end Aaron Armitage was also in town.

Armitage is a Blair Academy product, which is the same school as redshirt freshman defensive end Jayson Oweh. Armitage is shaping up to be one of the top defensive ends in the country for the 2021 cycle, and Penn State should be big players in his recruitment.

A big in-state visitor also unofficially visited in the form of 2022 athlete Mehki Flowers.

Flowers is shaping up to be one of the top players in the state for the 2022 cycle. This was his second trip to Happy Valley in the last three weeks.

NEW OFFERS

Three visitors that were in town over the weekend left with an offer, one of which was in-state 2020 linebacker Tyler Elsdon.

Elsdon is a North Schuylkill product, and camped for the Nittany Lion staff each of the last two weekends. After a good showing at Saturday’s Whiteout Camp, he earned an offer from James Franklin and company. Following the offer, the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions began to pour in for Elsdon-to-Penn State so the Nittany Lions should be viewed as a heavy, heavy favorite here.

Another player that picked up an offer after their camp showing over the weekend was 2021 quarterback Christian Veilleux.

Veilleux is a Canadian import that plans to play football at the Bullis School in Maryland this fall, which again another connection to Penn State as linebacker Cam Brown graduated from there in 2016.

Last but certainly not least, there is 2022 athlete Ken Talley.

Talley attends Northeast High School in Philadelphia where he is coached by former Nittany Lion defensive end Deion Barnes. As always with in-state kids, Penn State should be viewed as a big player in Talley’s recruitment moving forward.

TOP GROUPS & A POTENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

A trio of Penn State defensive back targets released top groups over the weekend. First, we got three-star CB Joseph Johnson’s top four.

Johnson is set to commit July 2, and while his 247 Crystal Ball reads 33% in favor of Penn State, it also reads 67% cloudy so anything could happen with Johnson.

Then there was three-star Virginia safety Elijah Gaines who put out a top seven.

Not to speculate too much, but those first three schools — Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame — probably sit the best here.

And last but not least, there was Enzo Jennings who released his final four, and hinted at a commitment on Thursday at 11 a.m.

With 88% of the Crystal Ball predictions pointing toward Penn State, it looks like James Franklin might be throwing up that bat signal 48 or so hours from now.