How important is the White Out game to Penn State football recruiting?
Penn State Nittany Lions football will host a sizable group of recruits when it welcomes Auburn to Beaver Stadium on Saturday for Penn State's annual White Out game.
Penn State football head coach James Franklin estimated that Beaver Stadium will welcome a group of around 300 recruiting related guests for the game. Included within that total are the prospects themselves, as well as their teammates, friends, and families.
"Our allotment of recruiting tickets is bigger than most, and that helps for games like this because you hate to turn people away," Franklin said. "This is a game where we typically have to turn recruits away, this is a game where we typically have to turn high school coaches away just because the demand far outweighs the supply."
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Franklin called the White Out game an event that should be on the bucket list of every sports fan around the world — certainly an opinion that has been shared by many of those who have taken part in the tradition.
It's also an event that has molded Penn State football's roster over the years, particularly within Franklin's tenure.
"This White Out game, year in and year out, goes a long way toward shaping our future," Franklin said. "You think about how many great players that have come to Penn State that talk about the White Out game having a big, significant impact in their recruiting process and in their decision.
"Getting as many of the top players nationally here as possible, as well as getting all of the regional players here on campus we think is really important."
Penn State tackle Caedan Wallace attended a White Out game against Ohio State in 2018 as a prospect, one of nearly a dozen visits he made to State College as a prospect.
His college decision was made well before that game, but it remained an important night for him as a recruit.
"It was definitely a really big night, a really big game for recruits," Wallace said. "It was a really big night for me. just being able to experience the energy. That was really big in my recruiting process, and it was just a really big moment."
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