ANOTHER ROUND OF SPRING VISITORS

With spring practice continuing for the Nittany Lions they once again hosted visitors in Happy Valley. Among this group was 2024 athlete Mekhai White.

The King George, Virginia, prospect was offered by the Nittany Lions in early March. This was already White’s second visit to campus since being offered by Penn State. It is safe to say the Nittany Lions are in the driver’s seat early in White’s recruitment.

In-state running back Marquese Williams also made it back to campus for a visit.

The four-star running back attends Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg. Despite being rated as a four-star prospect Williams is likely down Penn State’s board at running back a bit. While the Nittany Lions will continue to keep Williams warm it is hard to see him ending up in the class unless Penn States strikes out on multiple other running back targets.

Another notable visitor to campus was interior offensive lineman Connor Lew.

Lew, a Georgia native, was just recently offered by the Nittany Lions in late February. Quickly turning around to take an unofficial visit on his own dime after being offered indicates that there is likely interest in Penn State on Lew’s end.

It is unclear how many interior offensive line spots Penn State has left in their class. With Alex Birchmeier and Joshua Miller on board as IOL players, and J’Ven Williams potentially ending up inside down the road, the Nittany Lions will continue to target tackles to go with Anthony Donkoh. That said, if they like Lew enough to have recently offered him and then host him for a visit then they probably like him enough to continue to recruit him hard and push for him to join the class.

TRANSFER PORTAL TARGET VISITS

Late last week West Virginia defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor entered the transfer portal. Mesidor quickly gained traction picking up offers from schools such as Miami and USC. Then this past weekend he was in Happy Valley for a visit.

Adding Mesidor would go a long way toward shoring up the Nittany Lion defensive line room. While he likely projects best as an interior player in Penn State’s defense, he could also help as a strong-side defensive end.

Mesidor is a Canada native who spent the past two seasons in Morgantown. He was a Freshman All-American in 2020 and then followed that up with All-Big 12 honors during the 2021 season.

During his time in Morgantown he played in a total of 21 games, recording 70 total tackles. Mesidor racked up 14.5 tackles for a loss and 9.5 sacks. While Mesidor’s transfer portal recruitment is likely just now beginning, the Nittany Lions appear to be in a great spot early on.

TOP GROUPS

Four-star defensive tackle Will Norman has released a top 7 that includes the Nittany Lions. Penn State joins Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, and Texas A&M in his top group.

This comes on the heels of Norman visiting Happy Valley last month. While Norman attends IMG Academy in Florida he is originally from New Jersey which can only work in Penn State’s favor in this recruitment.

Additionally, Penn State holds the lone 247Sports crystal ball prediction for Norman. This crystal ball was logged this past week by Florida State site expert Josh Newberg. While there is still a ways to go in Norman’s recruitment and it will be a battle until the end, the Nittany Lions appear to currently be in as good a spot as anyone and they may even be Norman’s current leaders.

In-state four-star linebacker Phil Picciotti has also released his top group. Picciotti released a top 12 that included the Nittany Lions.

Picciotti attends Pennridge High School, the same school that produced current Nittany Lion defensive end Nick Tarbuton, and it is hard to envision him ending up anywhere other than Penn State if the staff pushes. Tony Rojas and Ta’Mere Robison are the top two targets at linebacker, but Picciotti, unlike the other two, is a MIKE linebacker. How is recruitment shakes out may wind up hinging on if he is a take at Penn State or not. If he is, again, it is hard to envision him ending up anywhere else.