Oh, Goodbye: Four-Star Alabama DE Tomarrion Parker Decommits from Penn State

Penn State’s 2023 recruiting class was dealt a big blow Tuesday afternoon when four-star Top 100 defensive end Tomarrion Parker decommitted from the Nittany Lions.

Parker committed to Penn State six weeks ago after officially visiting Happy Valley. At the time, it was a pretty big surprise that he committed, and given the distance between Pennsylvania and Alabama, Parker wavering wasn’t necessarily unforeseen. I said this in Parker’s commitment article:

“Of course, Penn State will likely need to stay on Parker through the fall as unofficial visits could be tempting, but that’s a bridge the Nittany Lions will cross when they get there.”

So a shocking development that Parker pulled away after the post-visit high wore off? Not exactly. But that doesn’t make the loss of Parker sting any less. Top-tier defensive ends are so incredibly hard to come by, and the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Parker had the makings of a good one. Being able to replace him this late in the process with someone near his talent level just can’t be expected to happen, unfortunately.

As a whole, Penn State’s recruiting class has taken a hit as of late. Parker is the fifth player to decommit from the class, as he joins Joshua Miller (Georgia), Yazeed Haynes (Georgia), Marcus Stokes (Florida), and Neeo Avery (Ole Miss). Like the rest of those four, I would expect Parker to end up in the SEC, with Florida and Sean Spencer trending right now.