4/3/2024 football Edit

NitBits: The latest on Matt Zollers, Trent Wilson, and more

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

Let's dive right into today's NitBits.

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2026 Virginia ATH Connor Salmin picks up offer

Penn State offered Virginia wide reciever / athlete Connor Salmin on Tuesday after an unofficial visit . It's the sixth offer fro the Purcellville, Virginia native who also holds offers from Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.

Matt Zollers has strong visit to UGA

The Matt Zollers recruitment continues on as he comes off a visit to UGA on Tuesday. That visit to Georgia thanks to our friends down at UGA Sports, sounds like it went very well. The Royersford native was very complimentary of the Bulldogs on the visit "It was definitely different than everywhere else," Zollers told UGA Sports. He also said that the Bulldogs told him that he's their top target and that they're only planning on taking one quarterback.

As this recruitment has progressed it has seemed that the Nittany Lions holding a commitment from Bekkem Krtiza has played a factor in the recruitment. Notably, none of his other finalists hold a commitment at the quarterback position this cycle.

Where Zollers ultimately commits still remains a question but I'd personally put Penn State third in the race currently behind Missouri and Georgia, though not necessarily in that order.

Continuing with the bad news, I have placed a FutureCast for Maryland defensive tackle Trent Wilson to land with Oklahoma. This one has come together very fast it seems like. I talked to a source yesterday who is familiar with Oklahoma's recruiting and as of Tuesday morning they thought Wilson was a Penn State lean, much like we did here at Happy Valley Insider.

However, as the day went on, it was becoming clear that Oklahoma had made a strong impression on the four-star defensive tackle. It sounds like NIL has played a notable factor here. Oklahoma is expected to miss on four-star defensive end Landon Rink on Wednesday and the Sooners pivoted towards Wilson which included a nice NIL package.

WHERE DOES PENN STATE GO AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE?

If Wilson does indeed commit to Oklahoma, where will Penn State pivot to? Here are a few options.

Carter was just on campus last month for an unofficial visit and would immediately become one of the top names to potentially watch the Nittany Lions make a strong push for. He has an official visit to Penn State scheduled for June 7 through the 9 as well. Other programs in the mix include Tennessee, Ohio State, and the usual suspects in Florida.

Penn State is high on Ikinnagbon but the feelings don't appear to be reciporcated with Georgia right now the favorite to land the New Jersey native.

Rupley is very intriguing as Penn State recently offered the Massachusetts native and he seems to be very excited about the potential of Penn State in his recruitment. That being said, Michigan State recently offered as well and more offers could soon be on the way for the 6-foot-4 defensive tackle. That being said, if Penn State makes a strong push for Rupley, they should have a pretty good chance to land the Belmont Hill prospect.

Where Shovlin ultimately ends up at the next level remains to be seen. Some see him as a defensive end, some see him more likely to play inside as a defensive tackle. Either way, Stanford is the current favorite to land the St. Thomas More prospect who is also a Northeastern Pennsylvania native.

Another prospect similar to Shovlin in terms of his position at the next level, Williams could be a name to monitor at the position depending on how the program's board at the position works out. As of right now, he has official visits scheduled to South Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech.

Finally, there is Willow Grove (PA) native and current The Pennington School standout Haleem Muhammad who picked up an offer from the Nittany Lions earlier this offseason. His recruitment has been generally quiet so far and he currently has one official visit scheduled to Rutgers.