6/2/2023 football Edit

Breaking down Penn State's first weekend of official visitors

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

Penn State's first official visit weekend of the year is upon us, the Nittany Lions will welcome a baker's dozen of prospects on campus this weekend. A notable difference from the same time a year ago when the Nittany Lions' hosted only Jason Moore on campus on the first weekend of June.

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Below, we preview this upcoming weekend for Penn State.

Penn State does not have any quarterback, running back, or tight end prospects on campus this weekend.

At wide receiver, Penn State is hosting a pair of prospects this weekend. Camden (NJ)'s Jaylan Hornsby is making his way to campus for an official visit. Notably, he recently transferred to Winslow Township where Bill Belton and Christian Hackenberg are the head coach and offensive coordinator. We will be watching Hornsby closely this weekend - a commitment from the four-star wide receiver may not be too far away if all goes well. Also on campus is Chance Robinson, a Miami commit. Robinson has long been one of Penn State's top targets at wide receiver, so getting him on campus despite that commitment to Miami is a huge step for the Nittany Lions. Will it result in a flip? We wouldn't hold our breath if we were you but getting him on campus was step one, now the Nittany Lions will look to hit out of the park with Robinson and perhaps make him think even harder about his recruitment going forward.

On the offensive line, another pair of Florida prospects are making the journey northward. Oviedo (FL)'s Tye Helton and Andrew Jackson (FL)'s Deryc Plazz. Plazz is the prospect probably worth a closer eye on this weekend from our perspective. The Nittany Lions appear to be in a better spot for him than Helton at the moment. That being said, we do not expect a decision out of either prospect coming out of this weekend.

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Moving to the defensive line, it is a very intriguing list of prospects. Let's start with the two headliners, DE Jaylen Harvey and DT Liam Andrews. Penn State leads for Harvey coming into this visit and we've had FutureCasts in for the Maryland native for quite a while now. Could this one end this weekend? It wouldn't be shocking... Harvey has stated he wants to wait till after his senior season to make a decision but we expect the Nittany Lions to push for a commitment this weekend either way, still very confident that Harvey ends up with a Nittany Lion eventually. Andrews has been a quiet but somewhat of a rollercoaster of recruitment. Penn State led for him at one time then lost momentum, now they're back in the lead heading into the weekend. We don't expect any decision anytime soon out of Andrews, at least till his official visits are over but this is a great opportunity for Penn State to further establish their lead in his recruitment.

Also, at defensive tackle are Xavier Gilliam and Deyvid Palepale. Gilliam is someone we currently have FutureCasted to land with the Nittany Lions and if all goes well for both sides this weekend, a decision may not be too far away. Palepale, on the other hand, is an official visit that the Nittany Lions if they truly want him in their class will need to make up a ton of ground on. Michigan is the firm leader here and if the Nittany Lions didn't get this official visit scheduled for this weekend, he may not have made it back to campus before committing to Michigan. It will take a lot to overtake the Wolverines but they have at least given themselves a fighting chance.

Finally, there's defensive end Amaris Williams, a rather recent offered prospect. They'll get the first crack here with North Carolina State, Florida, and Tennessee also getting official visits. The Nittany Lions have ground to make up here according to our sources.

Moving onto linebacker, Virginia linebacker Chris Cole and current commitment, Michigan native Kari Jackson will be on campus. Cole has really emerged over the last few months as a top linebacker in the 2024 recruiting class and Penn State has done a good job thus far but this will be a tough recruitment to win. Miami and Notre Dame are set to receive official visits with Alabama and Georgia looking to be in prime spots to receive one themselves. No decision is expected anytime soon but the best Penn State could hope for here is to set the bar extremely high. Jackson, on the other hand, everything remains firm here for Penn State, it will be good to have at least one commitment out of the 2024 recruiting class on campus this weekend for an official visit. Notably, there will be other commitments around this weekend as several will be in town for the camp on Sunday.

Finally moving to the secondary there is the very intriguing JUCO cornerback Sione Laulea out of San Mateo (CA) who I believe Penn State has a good chance at as well as Maryland safety Dejuan Lane. Starting with Laulea, I'll be honest, the read on his recruitment right now isn't much but Penn State's track record at the position should speak volumes here and the fact that he's interested enough to make that cross-country visit without previously visiting is quite notable. Not going to make any prediction here but it's easy to see why the Nittany Lions could be in a favorable spot for the JUCO prospect. When it comes to Lane, Penn State has long been in a very good spot for safety and we've been close to FutureCasting him before, he's someone else that I think could have his recruitment wrapped up sooner than later if all goes well.