Penn State off to fast start with rising 2020 Michigan OL

One of the Midwest’s fast rising offensive linemen in the junior class, not only has Toutant helped lead his De La Salle team into the playoffs. He’s also started pulling in first scholarship offers, as his recruitment rounds into focus.

“I got my latest offer from Duke,” he said Monday evening. “That was my most recent one. I got Pitt before that. Then I think it actually might have been Penn State, then Wisconsin and then Toledo. This month has been hectic lately, which I was not expecting this to happen at all this month, all so sudden. I was not ready for it all.”

Just one month earlier, he was in only moderate communication with college recruiters. “I really didn’t talk to a lot of schools at that point in September,” he said. Then when the Badgers offered, he said he was slightly caught off guard by the news.

“It was very unexpected to me,” he added.

While Toledo was the first to offer at the beginning of the month, when the Badgers threw their hat into the race in mid-October, Toutant really began to see his recruitment heat up. They had seen Toutant previously at a satellite camp and his junior season film had reinforced their scouting report. Others followed suit.

Penn State had familiarity as well. Toutant had twice been on campus before the offer came a couple weeks ago. He was on campus in July for summer camp, and he had been on the staff’s radar since he was a freshman.

He had been building a strong relationship with offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, and during the recent camp stop he offered pointers for the the former defensive lineman to transition into a full-time OL.

Toutant took Limegrover's advice to heart this season and through 10 games he has backed up his camp performances on the field. Once Limegrover and OL graduate assistant Sean Cascarano were able to get caught up on Toutant's junior film, the offer soon followed.

“We were messaging back and forth a little bit on Twitter, saying he liked my film and stuff and then one day [Cascarano] told me to call him and I gave them a call," said Toutant. "He said he’s there with Coach Limegrover with the offensive staff in the meeting room and they just got done watching my film and they were going to give me an offer.”

The coaches liked how Toutant fired off the ball and played with good bend. For Toutant, it was an offer he had been hoping to land.

He had previously scheduled a third visit, to come for their game against Iowa. He indeed followed up with it even though he had his first playoff game the night before and there were wet conditions in State College. The experience in Beaver Stadium met his expectations and made the trip worthwhile.

“It’s nuts,” he said. “There’s really nothing like it. It’s just insane.”

With the goal to have his decision out of the way before the end of his junior year, the Nittany Lions find themselves in even stronger position following the visit.

Added Toutant, “They’re definitely towards the top of the list as of right now.”

Toutant is unsure of his next visit. He had planned to visit Wisconsin this weekend but his playoff schedule interferes with the travel. He’s hoping for a return visit to Penn State after the season.