Penn State Recruiting: Race to NSD

There’s only one week remaining before the 2016 recruiting cycle ends and things are heating up.

Decommit 

Penn State suffered its 4th decommit of the 2016 class on Monday when 3 star DT Michael Dwumfour flipped his commitment from the Lions to Michigan.

Dwumfour is the third defensive tackle to decommit in this class.

New Offers

Penn State countered the decommitment by offering Antonio Shelton a three star defensive tackle who was committed to Illinois. Shelton decommitted from Illinois last night when coach Franklin paid him a visit.

Shelton is expected at Happy Valley this weekend, I would not be surprised to see him commit while there.

Penn State also recently offered three wide receivers committed elsewhere. Three star Dredrick Snelson from Florida is the most intriguing. He is committed to Minnesota, but has visited UCF and Maryland and is expected at Penn State Friday. Franklin visited Snelson late last week. He is expected to commit on Signing Day and choose between five schools including Penn State.

Dae’lun Darien a three star Temple commit also picked up an offer, he is committed to Temple to play wide out, but is believed to be recruited as an athlete by Penn State. He is also slated to be visiting this weekend.

The newest offer is for Pitt commit Maurice  Ffrench. Also a three star, Ffrench has great speed that Penn State is high on. Ffrench seems to be solid on his verbal to Pitt, don’t expect anything here.

All of these offers come in response to top receiving target Tre Nixon’s commitment to Ole Miss.

The Kicker Party 

Quinn Nordin, the top kicker in the country has been committed to the Nittany Lions since July. He was solid until November when he started visiting Michigan. Nordin was expected at Penn State this past weekend, but the snow kept him away and reports say he visited Baylor. Penn State has had enough, they offered Rutgers commit Alex Barbir over the weekend. It didn’t take long for him to flip, which was made official this morning. Nordin still claims  to be committed to Penn State as it says in his Twitter bio, but I believe he will now head to Michigan, ending the soap opera.

Recap of the Big Weekend 

Penn State hosted every commit except Nordin and Daniel Joseph this past weekend. Joseph couldn’t make it due to the weather and will visit this weekend. Penn State also had bad luck with two top targets in linebacker Brendon Ferns and JUCO safety Kyzir White who did not come because of the weather. Two top targets did make it  in DBs Damar Hamlin and Khaleke Hudson, both are friends of Penn State commits Miles Sanders and Aaron Mathews. Hudson will announce his decision tomorrow at 3 PM, while Hamlin will do his Monday at 6PM. Hudson chooses from Michigan( the favorite), Penn State, Pitt, and UCLA. Hamlin will have Penn State, Pitt, and Ohio State in his final group.

Many visitors including the Pittsburgh area group and the Maryland group were stuck at Penn State until Monday night due to the storm. This gave Franklin an extra day of recruiting which may be big if Hudson or Hamlin make the call to Happy Valley.

Only a week remains unti National Signing Day, Franklin and his staff have a lot of work to do with 8 spots remaining in the 2016 class, although it’s expected they only take 20-22 players in this cycle.

Updates will follow as they become available.