BREAKING: Saf. Elijah Gaines joins Penn State's Class of 2020

Penn State added another defensive back to its Class of 2020 Friday when safety Elijah Gaines announced his commitment via Twitter.

A native of Queens, N.Y., Gaines attends Episcopal boarding school in Alexandria, Va. He earned an offer from the Nittany Lions in April and took three unofficial visits with James Franklin and his staff. Two of those visits came in the past few months, as Gaines took an unofficial in June, followed by an official for the game against Pitt, Sept. 13-15. He also camped in State College twice before being recruited by the staff.

“Honestly, I had a blast," Gaines said following his official visit. "Most unofficial visits are kind of the same. With official visits, they’re much more in-depth. You get to hang out with the team more, which I really liked. I had a really good time."

Gaines earned 17 verbal scholarship offers. In addition to the Nittany Lions, he announced in June that Duke, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia were among his top schools. Michigan and North Carolina were Penn State's top competitors.

"The family feel that I got from there. That's what stands out to me," said Gaines. "They're a really close group. The coaches care about their guys. Education is also very important. That all stands out to me."

Below is film from his most recent game against Bishop Sullivan. Rivals analyst Adam Friedman said he was impressed with Gaines when he saw him live last season.

"He really showed well," Friedman said. "He's a high-ceiling safety and still has a lot of room to fill out his frame. He flies to the ball well and is very rangy. I really like what he's going to be able to do at Penn State. He's great at tracking the ball while it's in the air and can be an enforcer in the middle of the field."

With Gaines now on board, Penn State is likely done at safety, joining Enzo Jennings and junior college prospect Ji'Ayir Brown. It's possible that the staff could still add a cornerback, however. Gaines is also the second defensive back from Episcopal to end up at Penn State, joining sophomore safety Jonathan Sutherland.

Following RJ Adams' departure, Gaines is the 26th prospect to join the Class of 2020. The Lions go into the weekend ranked 13th overall in the Rivals.com team rankings.

Moving forward, Penn State fans should now turn their attention to WR KeAndre Lambert, who's expected to announce his decision in a week from now, Oct. 4. North Carolina and Virginia Tech are believed to be PSU's top competitors.