Top 2022 targets set Penn State official visits

Penn State isn't messing around when it comes to the potential end of the dead period this summer. Following the NCAA's decision to once again extend the dead period from April 15 to May 31, there was plenty of outcry that visits should be allowed to resume, sooner than later. Now, in the weeks since, many close to the college football community are beginning to feel confident that the dead period will officially end on June 1. By the looks of things, James Franklin and his staff seem to believe this is a very real possibility.

Over the weekend, we learned that four-star cornerback Jaeden Gould had set an official visit with Penn State for the weekend of June 11-13. Now, two more of Penn State's top overall prospects in the Class of 2022 have also locked in visits for that date: RB Nick Singleton and DL Joe Strickland.

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All three of those prospects have been to University Park before. Gould and Singleton have taken true visits with the coaching staff - Gould attended the Lasch Bash barbecue in 2019, while Singleton has taken four visits to Penn State, the most recent of which was the 2019 White Out game against Michigan. Stirckland's trip came at the end of January when he and his mother drove out to State College to check the place out on their own.

“I went to go see the business building and the engineering building,” Strickland said, following his trip. “I went to see the ‘We Are’ sculpture, which is pretty new. I also saw the Nittany Lion statue and I took pictures of the stadium. We went over near the practice facility, too, but you can’t see much with the fences and the trees surrounding the fields.

“Of course, I couldn’t go in any of these places, but I did get breakfast, lunch and dinner in town with my mom. My dad stayed home with my little brother. But it was pretty nice. It wasn’t too cold and all the snow didn’t fall yet, so we had time to really see the campus and the town. I saw everything clear. There weren’t many students back yet, but that’s OK. I feel like I got a good feeling for Penn State.”

Penn State has also locked in official visits with five of its committed players, including OL Drew Shelton, TE Jerry Cross, LB Ken Talley, WR Kaden Saunders and Ath. Mehki Flowers. We expect Franklin and his staff to host all of his committed players two weeks later, June 25-27.

Click here to follow all of PSU's official and unofficial visits in the months ahead.

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