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Which 2023 prospects has Penn State contacted now that it's Sept. 1?

September 1 is a big day on the recruiting calendar.

Not only has the August dead period now ended, assuring that prospects can visit Penn State and other schools whenever they chose between now and December 11, but it's also the first day that college coaches are allowed to initiate conversations with junior prospects, which this year is the Class of 2023.

Beginning at midnight, Penn State's staff was allowed to contact 2023 prospects via a variety of ways, including text messages, FaceTime, Zoom and over social media. Coaches still aren't allowed to call junior players on their phone directly. They will get the opportunity to call them once a week over the phone next spring. Considering how valuable Zoom and FaceTime is nowadays, don't be surprised if that rule is changed to some degree in the years to come.

But throughout the past year, it was on the player and/or his family to initiate all conversations. Of course, many college coaches would contact high school coaches to let players know that they'd like to talk, which is how so many of visits were scheduled this summer, but at the end of the day, the recruit had the choice to reach back out or not.

This still don't have to answer, of course, but when a school like Penn State is contacting you, they're going to pick up, and now James Franklin and his staff are allowed to do just that.

Below are a handful of the prospects who confirmed that they were contacted by Penn State in some manner from midnight and up until this afternoon.

Related: Five-star Dani Dennis-Sutton provides injury update

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- Penn State was the first school to offer Chen back in May. They remain the only school to do so to this point. He visited Washington this summer. Colorado, Boise State and UCLA also contacted him today.

- Pierre holds 16 verbal scholarship offers. Penn State made the move back on May 10 and they were one of the first schools to contact him last night. Other notables included Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana and Mississippi State.

- Tahir claimed an offer from the Nittany Lions back in May. Boise State, Cal, Mississippi State and UCLA have all contacted him in recent hours.

- Lovett is yet to pick up an offer from Penn State, but he did camp with the staff this summer. Boston College, Cincinnati and Temple have all offered so far. Other schools that contacted him include Marshall, Maryland, Pitt, Purdue, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.

- The South Carolina native holds five offers so far, including Penn State. Old Dominion, UAB, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. The Nittany Lions offered Williams back in June after he camped with the staff. Michigan State and Wake Forest are two other schools that contacted Williams last night.

- Viotto doesn't hold an offer from Penn State yet. Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Syracuse have all offered so far. He did camp with the Nittany Lion staff this summer. Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio) all contacted him.

- McMillen is up to eight scholarship offers, including Penn State. Arizona State, Missouri, Syracuse and Texas Tech are the other Power Five programs to extend a scholarship so far. He's heard from a host of schools since last night, including Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

- Birchmeier is Penn State's lone committed prospect in the Class of 2023. He ended his recruitment back on July 15.

- Call claimed an offer from Penn State all the way back in Sept. 2020. He's claimed over a dozen offers so far and visited a handful of schools this summer, including Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami and UCF. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech also contacted him today.

- Hill is the top-ranked linebacker in the nation for the Class of 2023. Penn State was actually one of the first schools to contact him last night, along with a ton of others. The list includes Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and USC.

- Parker claimed an offer from Penn State in April. He holds over a dozen offers total and visited a bunch of solid schools this summer, including Clemson, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. He also announced a top seven in August: Penn State, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Schools that contacted him include Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina and Ole Miss.

- Fleming is an elite wide receiver out of American Heritage in Florida. The Nittany Lions offered back in January, and he's heard from Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, Tennessee, USC and West Virginia so far today.

- Herring holds more than a dozen scholarship offers, including Penn State, Arizona State, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Missouri and Pitt. Notable schools to contact him so far include Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, LSU, Michigan and Michigan State.

- Starlings is one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the region for 2023. Penn State is one of 18 schools to extend a scholarship offer so far. He's heard from a ton of schools since midnight, including Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

- David Ojiegbe was on campus back in June and has held an offer from Penn State since May. 11 schools have offered so far, including Maryland, Michigan, Pitt, Tennessee and West Virginia. West Virginia is another school that contacted him last night.

- Benton holds two dozen scholarship offers and visited Penn State at the end of June. Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, Oregon and USC all contacted him since last night.

- Davis picked up an offer from Penn State in June. He visited a handful of southern schools this summer, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Clemson and Georgia Tech also contacted him last night.

- Gabe Arena camped at Penn State this summer. The Bishop McDevitt prospect holds an early offer from Virginia Tech, who also contacted him last night. Other schools to reach out include Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Pitt and West Virginia.

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