Highly touted New Jersey prospect commits to Penn State

(Photo courtesy of 247 Sports)

According to Ryan Snyder of BlueWhiteIllustrated.com, 4-star defensive end Garrett Sickels of Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver, New Jersey has verbally committed to Penn State. He becomes the third member of the Nittany Lion’s 2013 recruiting class, joining Virginia quarterback Christian Hackenberg and Ohio athlete Ross Douglas.

Sickels is rated as the No. 50 overall player in the class of 2013’s Rivals100. Standing 6’4” and weighing 225 pounds, he also had offers from Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State, among a plethora of others.

This is yet another big pick-up for Bill O’Brien in his first full crack at recruiting. He could continue to exceed many people’s expectations if he is able to pick up a verbal from Pennsylvania tight end Adam Breneman, one of the prized recruits in the class, who will announce his decision this Friday. Penn State is believed by many to be in the lead for Breneman.

Follow Nittany Lion’s Den on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.