Penn State landed a verbal commitment from Ohio offensive lineman Michael Miranda on Thursday, continuing the effort to rebuild the offensive line.
The latest addition to the offensive line comes from the Buckeye state to the west. Michael Miranda announced his decision to commit to Penn State Thursday night on his Twitter account, choosing the Nittany Lions over offers from Pittsburgh and Missouri less than a week after visiting Penn State for the Blue White spring game last weekend. It was the second unofficial visit to Penn State in the past month, which suggested he was leaning toward Penn State.
According to the 247 Sports composite rankings, Miranda is a three-star recruit and the 21st-ranked offensive guard in the country, and 25th-top recruit from the state of Ohio. At 6’3″ and 300 pounds, Miranda will easily add some meat to the offensive line and should help plug the middle of the line once he gets in the system.
What helped push Penn State into the driver’s seat in his recruiting process? As noted by Black Shoe Diaries, new offensive line coach Matt Limegrover helped get the recruiting started in January. The two had established a relationship while Limegrover was at Minnesota, although no offer was ever extended by the Gophers. The connection remained however and that opened the door for Penn State. It turns out a family connection with Penn State’s new offensive coordinator, Joe Moorehead, also may have played a key role.
“The offensive coordinator coached with my head coach so they have very similar styles and views, and I think that helps me see myself fitting in well,” Miranda previously said to 247 Sports.
https://twitter.com/CLimegrover/status/723311628196937732
So far the Penn State Class of 2017 is up to seven commits, three of which are on the offensive line. Four-star offensive guard CJ Thorpe out of Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic was a significant addition over the weekend, and that was at the same time three-star tackle Robert Martin hopped on board the commitment list. Between the early portion of this Class of 2017 and the recent Class of 2016, Penn State has added seven offensive linemen on scholarship, which should help with adding depth to the line in the coming years.
Photo credit: 247 Sports
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