Experts rank Penn State recruiting class among the best in the Big Ten
James Franklin and his Penn State coaching staff like to stick to a strict routine when it comes to recruiting, leaving nothing to chance as they build the Nittany Lions' roster for the future.
James Franklin and his Penn State coaching staff like to stick to a strict routine when it comes to recruiting, leaving nothing to chance as they build the Nittany Lions' roster for the future.
But winning a Big Ten championship, earning a trip to the Rose Bowl, and being in the hunt for the College Football Playoff right up to the end did make the 2017 effort a little less strenuous.
"Playing in the Rose Bowl definitely played a huge factor in landing some of the kids, just that level of confidence that kids have that, not only is James Franklin's program working there, but he's going to be around for many more years to come," said Adam Gorney, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com.
"I think it's a very solid class up and down, very competitive in the Big Ten. They finished behind Ohio State and Michigan, which long-term could continue to be an issue in terms of winning Big Ten championships. But third out of 14 [teams] is a very solid finish. There's a lot of talent in this class that he'll probably be able to utilize early on."
Penn State has picked up five oral commitments since defeating Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. They include five-star cornerback Lamont Wade, of Clairton, Pa., the class' top-rated recruit, and four-star linebacker Ellis Brooks, of Richmond, Va., who just pledged Monday.
In all, 19 players - four of whom, including Wade, already have enrolled for the spring semester - make up the Class of 2017, with 15 expected to return their signed national letter of intent Wednesday.
As of Tuesday, the Penn State recruiting class was ranked 10th by Rivals, 15th by both Scout.com and 247Sports.com and 16th by ESPN.com. The Lions were ranked third in the Big Ten by three of the four sites; Scout has them fourth, trailing Maryland, Ohio State, and Michigan.
Brian Dohn, national recruiting analyst for Scout, said he thought that, while the conference title and a Rose Bowl berth helped, the bottom line for many athletes is whether they have a chance to win a national championship.
"By the time they won the Big Ten championship, 80 percent of their class was done, and they were doing really well" with the Class of 2018, Dohn said. "It's nice that Penn State could visit your school or your home and bring the Big Ten championship trophy, but that's not going to make a kid decide. Can you win a national championship?
"Everyone likes to look at it as, 'Well, they won, so here's the bump.' If you win, maybe it gets you in some homes. But if you have the relationship, that's how you recruit."
Both Dohn and Gorney thought a prime example of Franklin's emphasis on relationships was in the recruitment of Brooks, who received an offer from Penn State on Jan. 22, after another linebacker, Dylan Rivers, flipped his commitment from the Nittany Lions to Virginia Tech.
"It speaks well to how they've prepared in recruiting," Dohn said. "[Brooks] obviously wasn't their first choice, but they thought highly enough of him [that] the staff continued to recruit him - even though they didn't have a spot open - in case something like this happened."
Gorney said Franklin and his staff made Brooks feel "like the top guy in the whole class.
"Brooks was a priority for a long time. He felt like a priority. He didn't feel like a back-up plan," he said. "I think that was definitely important as they went out and landed him real close to signing day."
Besides Wade and Brooks, other consensus top recruits for Penn State were offensive lineman C.J. Thorpe of Pittsburgh, quarterback Sean Clifford of Cincinnati, defensive tackle Fred Hansard of Princeton, N.J., and defensive end Yetur Matos of Fredericksburg, Va.
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