Penn State Commit Messiah Mickens Sets Official Visit As Potential Recruiting Battle Brews

Penn State running back commitment Messiah Mickens has been in the spotlight over the last few weeks as the change at running backs coach for the Nittany Lions has caused the Harrisburg native to consider his options.

The nation's eighth-ranked running back, Mickens recently told Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney that he'll be taking official visits to North Carolina (June 13-15) and Notre Dame (June 19-22) in his recruitment.

The Fighting Irish are particularly worth watching with former Nittany Lions' running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider now with the Irish."Coach Seider meant a lot in my recruitment process,” Mickens told Rivals. “He was someone I could talk to beyond football. That’s just a bond that can’t be broken regardless of where I end up going.”

Now, we can add an official visit to Penn State to the top-150 prospect's schedule, he'll be on campus the weekend of May 29. It will be a visit that James Franklin and new Nittany Lions' running backs coach Stan Drayton look to get Mickens to shut down his recruitment once and for all, if they can't convince him to do so before then.

“Coach Drayton is a good coach with a great track record,” Mickens previously said. “I like how he can slow down the game for his backs." The two also were able to connect last Thursday as Penn State made the hiring of Drayton official.