South Africa..... Atlanta......... HAPPY VALLEY #WeAre @coachjfranklin @CoachJScott_DL pic.twitter.com/Stp9EAvlKd
— Jordan van den Berg (@JordanvandenB12) June 9, 2021
THE SKINNY
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 280 pounds
Hometown/High School: Lilburn, GA (Iowa Western C.C.)
Ranking: Unranked
Notable Offers: Iowa and Nebraska
HIGHLIGHTS
THE TALE
Originally from South Africa before moving to Georgia when he was 10 years old, van den Berg spent one season at Iowa Western Community College before hitting the camp scene with the NCAA dead period finally over. van den Berg wasted no time making a mark, camping at Nebraska, Iowa, and Penn State over the last week, and leaving with offers from all three schools.
Although originally listed as a 2022 prospect, van den Berg will actually reclassify to 2021, meaning he’ll enroll at Penn State in the coming days, according to Sean Fitz.
Per sources, Penn State’s latest commit, JUCO DT Jordan van den Berg, will join the program this weekend and be with the team for the upcoming season. https://t.co/kauzMp86OH @247Sports pic.twitter.com/OiEwkd66BS
— Sean Fitz (@seanfitz247) June 9, 2021
Since he spent just one season at Iowa Western and this year not counting against his eligibility, van den Berg will have five seasons to play four, making him a normal 2021 prospect despite his season at Iowa Western.
OUTLOOK
Wild happenings. Last week this time, van den Berg had no Power Five offers — now, he’s just days away from officially becoming a Big Ten football player. Quite the week for van den Berg.
Consider me super intrigued by this whole recruitment (if we want to call it that). To put it as simply as possible, you don’t just go from “yeah, come camp for us” to “you’re offered and we would like for you to enroll this weekend” without doing something spectacular at camp. Obviously, these camps weren’t open to the public, but it’s safe to assume that van den Berg had the workouts of all workouts.
Despite the fact that he looks like Robert Windsor, van den Berg doesn’t quite play the same way. He’ll for sure be a defensive tackle (he played defensive end at Iowa Western), but he’s much more in the 3-Tech pass-rusher mold than the 1-Tech run-stuffer mold. Penn State is already pretty set at defensive tackle in 2021, so expect a redshirt season for van den Berg, but moving forward, he’s definitely someone who should be expected to crack the rotation sooner rather than later.