Update: 2017!! Star Power!! Let’s hope we can reel it in and keep it committed. For as bad as I did down the stretch with predicting in 2016 I did do pretty well on signing day and I’ve learned a few things for this year about sharing my thoughts with others vs previous years of just keeping my own board. But I love staying on top of this stuff and I hope others have liked me consolidating the information that is out there and all-in-all I didn't do that bad throughout the year picking up on where recruits were trending. This one is really long as our board is very deep at the moment. A little reminder that Commit Watch doesn’t really mean they are going to commit this weekend, but that we are a favorite who is likely to eventually get their commitment.
First up let’s talk about some of the IMG kids. Josh Kaindoh is from MD and has been to campus a number of times and back in August gave and interview “gushing” about Penn State. He is a 5 star though and playing at IMG has the SEC and Clemson & FSU drooling over him. It would be great to add him as soon as possible and make him a leader for this class. If he were to start recruiting for us, he could start in his own locker room. Cam Spence, a DT also from MD had OSU in the lead until this summer where he gave an interview stating that we were his clear leader. At a position of need adding him would be great. Jordan Anthony another former resident of the Old Line state, has Penn State family connections and camped here last summer. His recruitment has switched from OLB to RB and he has interest from the SEC and UMD. Adding all three of them ASAP would be very helpful to getting an early jump on 2017 and changing the negative momentum that the 2015 season and 2016 class finished with. Avery Roberts is a LB prospect from Delaware and the top Delaware recruit since Godwin. We lead and are really down to competing with Nebraska. I think he will be a commit before the season, possibly by Blue White. Mark Webb is a WR from Arch Bishop Wood, which hopefully is becoming a bit of a pipeline for us. He has had us in the lead since his recruitment began and we should see him join up before the BW game. Damani Neal is a MD prospect at safety and a really bright kid. Unfortunately it is very similar to Pryts though in that Stanford is our biggest competition. He has been to campus more than anyone else in the 2017 class and could commit soon, keeping him until he signs his LOI could be tough when he gets his acceptance letter to Stanford.
Robert Hainsey transferred from Gateway to IMG and we were definitely the leader last year and I thought for sure he’d be an early member of this class. Since then based on what I see, I think he is considering more options at the moment. He has tweeted a bunch of Michigan stuff and has even gotten swept up in some 412 Crew nonsense (but then so did Sanders and Hudson and how did that work out). We’ve got to stay on him and get him on campus so he can remember why we were the leader. Fred Hansard to me is one of the most important recruits of this cycle. We were in the lead there too (seeing a theme yet) but he was in Columbus in January and they are definitely the top competitors of ours as well as Ash trying to keep some NJ talent in NJ. Knowing that our commits get their marching orders for recruiting others from Franklin himself, he must deem Hansard a top priority too, as Clifford has been all over him. Hansard was even quoted as saying Clifford is the recruit he has become closest to in the process so far and that they text nearly every other day. David Adams is probably the next most important recruit and could easily follow in the western PA PSU LB tradition. ND and Pitt are the main competition there. C.J. Thorpe, whose father was a running back for Penn State from 85-89, like Adams goes to Central Catholic who we have taken a number of players from recently and Pitt took like 4 of their players last year. Thorpe and Adams have both been to campus many times. Their commitments would go a long way to “dominating the state”. Yetur Matos is a rising prospect out of VA that along with Kaindoh would be our top DE targets for this class. Clemson is the competition there, as they are throughout all of Virginia right now. Damion Barber goes to Harrisburg High and there is already been some talk (I do NOT know if credible) that he is a qualifying risk. Kasim Hill would be the 2nd QB Franklin wanted in this class. He recently got a 4th star from a few services and could continue to gain as camps start this spring.
OT Isaiah Wilson is a top ten national recruit from NYC, he visited for the UM game, but I think that was to see UM not PSU. D’Andre Swift is a 5* RB out of St. Joes Prep in Philly. We were in the lead there so much so at one point that a poster on another board claimed to have inside info from Prep that he was going to eventually commit to PSU. Since then FSU has moved in. I have my own sources around the catholic schools here who have confirmed to me that Franklin is in good with Prep, we’ll see how it shakes out, but without any momentum I don’t think we are, right now, the favorites. Wade is a fringe 5* CB from Clairton (that’s worked out so well for us in the past, eyeroll) and personally I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I think he is OSU bound. He’ll visit Pitt and PSU a number of times but Urban won’t lose this one. We were in early on Micah Clark OT from NJ, but never lead so to speak, but he went to Jr Day at OSU and came out with them as the leader. Jordan McNair OT from MD will be a race against OSU and UMD. Carter Lynch is an OT at Prep who doesn’t talk to the media and protects his tweets. I have to assume we have offered, but no one knows. DE Chase Young has gone gang busters this season and vaulted himself from around a 250 ranking up to top 80. He goes to Dematha and there is a hard Dematha to UMD push going, doubtful he follows Simmons to PSU. DT Donovan Jeter has tweeted many pro PSU things over the last year but is a Pitt legacy. Would be a great pull, but will be a battle. ATH Devon Hunter from VA has visited but is probably a VaTech/Clemson battle. Dalyn Wade-Perry is a smart guy who has visited but we would be battling Stanford for. I think he is likely to pick Stanford. I would like to see us offer OG Ben Petrula from NJ soon, as well as 3* OG Ryan Solt from Wilkes Barre, and 3* DT Kurt Hinish from Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
Overall there is a lot of talent we are after. There are 15 Schollies available for 2017 right now. We should end up with 18-19, BUT that means that early in the season Franklin should accept up to 21-22 because decommits are here to stay. Winning is a necessity to close on some of this top talent. Right now in our recruiting region Michigan and Clemson have all of the momentum and are in on freaking everyone. People shouldn’t sleep on Ash’s honeymoon status either, not that it will last long, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see an early commit to RU that makes you go hmm, but it unlikely to stick. Narduzzi is also walking high on his negative schtick as he continues to collect frequent flier miles that he will use the second he can to get out of Pittsburgh. We control our own destiny in that one though. The other day Judge posted in another thread that Jr Day would be the 27th at Penn State. Hopefully we can get as many of these guys as we can to come.
Commit Watch:
5* DE Kaindoh, 4* RB/LB Anthony, 4* ILB Roberts, 4* DT Spence, 4* S Neal, 4* WR Webb
Very Good Chance:
4* OT Hainsey, 4* DT Hansard, 4* ILB Adams, 4* G Thorpe, 4* DE Matos, 3* DE Barber, 3* QB Hill
In The Battle:
5* OT Wilson, 5* RB Swift, 4* CB Wade, 4* OT Clark, 4* OT McNair, 4* OT Lynch, 4* DE Young, 4* DT Jeter, 4* ATH Hunter, 4* OLB Proctor, 3* DT Wade-Perry
Work Left To Do:
5* RB McFarland Jr., 4* CB Thomas, 4* OLB Singleton, 4* DE Malone-Hatcher, 4* DE Vilain, 4* OG Petrula, 3* TE Dotson, 3* TE Pugh
Have To Get Really Lucky:
4* C Ruiz
My opinion on where we stand with recruits based on rumors, where the coaching staff has made serious effort, offers, tweets (sometimes) and gut feeling. My categories(and their meanings) are Commit Watch (changed from Locks as to not offend recruiting gods), Very good chance(we sit very well with the recruit and are either the leader or perceived leader), In the Battle(We have a good shot and are equal to others or just slightly behind), Work left to do(there is another perceived leader or little information known on recruits intentions), Have to get really lucky(small chance to little to none), and Former Interest(players that Penn State was previously interested in that most likely no longer have committable offers).
First up let’s talk about some of the IMG kids. Josh Kaindoh is from MD and has been to campus a number of times and back in August gave and interview “gushing” about Penn State. He is a 5 star though and playing at IMG has the SEC and Clemson & FSU drooling over him. It would be great to add him as soon as possible and make him a leader for this class. If he were to start recruiting for us, he could start in his own locker room. Cam Spence, a DT also from MD had OSU in the lead until this summer where he gave an interview stating that we were his clear leader. At a position of need adding him would be great. Jordan Anthony another former resident of the Old Line state, has Penn State family connections and camped here last summer. His recruitment has switched from OLB to RB and he has interest from the SEC and UMD. Adding all three of them ASAP would be very helpful to getting an early jump on 2017 and changing the negative momentum that the 2015 season and 2016 class finished with. Avery Roberts is a LB prospect from Delaware and the top Delaware recruit since Godwin. We lead and are really down to competing with Nebraska. I think he will be a commit before the season, possibly by Blue White. Mark Webb is a WR from Arch Bishop Wood, which hopefully is becoming a bit of a pipeline for us. He has had us in the lead since his recruitment began and we should see him join up before the BW game. Damani Neal is a MD prospect at safety and a really bright kid. Unfortunately it is very similar to Pryts though in that Stanford is our biggest competition. He has been to campus more than anyone else in the 2017 class and could commit soon, keeping him until he signs his LOI could be tough when he gets his acceptance letter to Stanford.
Robert Hainsey transferred from Gateway to IMG and we were definitely the leader last year and I thought for sure he’d be an early member of this class. Since then based on what I see, I think he is considering more options at the moment. He has tweeted a bunch of Michigan stuff and has even gotten swept up in some 412 Crew nonsense (but then so did Sanders and Hudson and how did that work out). We’ve got to stay on him and get him on campus so he can remember why we were the leader. Fred Hansard to me is one of the most important recruits of this cycle. We were in the lead there too (seeing a theme yet) but he was in Columbus in January and they are definitely the top competitors of ours as well as Ash trying to keep some NJ talent in NJ. Knowing that our commits get their marching orders for recruiting others from Franklin himself, he must deem Hansard a top priority too, as Clifford has been all over him. Hansard was even quoted as saying Clifford is the recruit he has become closest to in the process so far and that they text nearly every other day. David Adams is probably the next most important recruit and could easily follow in the western PA PSU LB tradition. ND and Pitt are the main competition there. C.J. Thorpe, whose father was a running back for Penn State from 85-89, like Adams goes to Central Catholic who we have taken a number of players from recently and Pitt took like 4 of their players last year. Thorpe and Adams have both been to campus many times. Their commitments would go a long way to “dominating the state”. Yetur Matos is a rising prospect out of VA that along with Kaindoh would be our top DE targets for this class. Clemson is the competition there, as they are throughout all of Virginia right now. Damion Barber goes to Harrisburg High and there is already been some talk (I do NOT know if credible) that he is a qualifying risk. Kasim Hill would be the 2nd QB Franklin wanted in this class. He recently got a 4th star from a few services and could continue to gain as camps start this spring.
OT Isaiah Wilson is a top ten national recruit from NYC, he visited for the UM game, but I think that was to see UM not PSU. D’Andre Swift is a 5* RB out of St. Joes Prep in Philly. We were in the lead there so much so at one point that a poster on another board claimed to have inside info from Prep that he was going to eventually commit to PSU. Since then FSU has moved in. I have my own sources around the catholic schools here who have confirmed to me that Franklin is in good with Prep, we’ll see how it shakes out, but without any momentum I don’t think we are, right now, the favorites. Wade is a fringe 5* CB from Clairton (that’s worked out so well for us in the past, eyeroll) and personally I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I think he is OSU bound. He’ll visit Pitt and PSU a number of times but Urban won’t lose this one. We were in early on Micah Clark OT from NJ, but never lead so to speak, but he went to Jr Day at OSU and came out with them as the leader. Jordan McNair OT from MD will be a race against OSU and UMD. Carter Lynch is an OT at Prep who doesn’t talk to the media and protects his tweets. I have to assume we have offered, but no one knows. DE Chase Young has gone gang busters this season and vaulted himself from around a 250 ranking up to top 80. He goes to Dematha and there is a hard Dematha to UMD push going, doubtful he follows Simmons to PSU. DT Donovan Jeter has tweeted many pro PSU things over the last year but is a Pitt legacy. Would be a great pull, but will be a battle. ATH Devon Hunter from VA has visited but is probably a VaTech/Clemson battle. Dalyn Wade-Perry is a smart guy who has visited but we would be battling Stanford for. I think he is likely to pick Stanford. I would like to see us offer OG Ben Petrula from NJ soon, as well as 3* OG Ryan Solt from Wilkes Barre, and 3* DT Kurt Hinish from Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
Overall there is a lot of talent we are after. There are 15 Schollies available for 2017 right now. We should end up with 18-19, BUT that means that early in the season Franklin should accept up to 21-22 because decommits are here to stay. Winning is a necessity to close on some of this top talent. Right now in our recruiting region Michigan and Clemson have all of the momentum and are in on freaking everyone. People shouldn’t sleep on Ash’s honeymoon status either, not that it will last long, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see an early commit to RU that makes you go hmm, but it unlikely to stick. Narduzzi is also walking high on his negative schtick as he continues to collect frequent flier miles that he will use the second he can to get out of Pittsburgh. We control our own destiny in that one though. The other day Judge posted in another thread that Jr Day would be the 27th at Penn State. Hopefully we can get as many of these guys as we can to come.
Commit Watch:
5* DE Kaindoh, 4* RB/LB Anthony, 4* ILB Roberts, 4* DT Spence, 4* S Neal, 4* WR Webb
Very Good Chance:
4* OT Hainsey, 4* DT Hansard, 4* ILB Adams, 4* G Thorpe, 4* DE Matos, 3* DE Barber, 3* QB Hill
In The Battle:
5* OT Wilson, 5* RB Swift, 4* CB Wade, 4* OT Clark, 4* OT McNair, 4* OT Lynch, 4* DE Young, 4* DT Jeter, 4* ATH Hunter, 4* OLB Proctor, 3* DT Wade-Perry
Work Left To Do:
5* RB McFarland Jr., 4* CB Thomas, 4* OLB Singleton, 4* DE Malone-Hatcher, 4* DE Vilain, 4* OG Petrula, 3* TE Dotson, 3* TE Pugh
Have To Get Really Lucky:
4* C Ruiz
My opinion on where we stand with recruits based on rumors, where the coaching staff has made serious effort, offers, tweets (sometimes) and gut feeling. My categories(and their meanings) are Commit Watch (changed from Locks as to not offend recruiting gods), Very good chance(we sit very well with the recruit and are either the leader or perceived leader), In the Battle(We have a good shot and are equal to others or just slightly behind), Work left to do(there is another perceived leader or little information known on recruits intentions), Have to get really lucky(small chance to little to none), and Former Interest(players that Penn State was previously interested in that most likely no longer have committable offers).
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