Twitter Mailbag: Enai White, Lackawanna, Silent Commits & More

Blue White Illustrated's Ryan Snyder is starting a new Friday feature, opening up his Twitter notifications for fans to ask any recruiting question they'd like. Now, even those who don't subscribe to BWI will get the opportunity to ask questions, and there's no shortage of questions after this past week, as the Nittany Lions added two new commitments while also missing out on Enai White's top schools.

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- This is a good question. I won’t argue with any fan that thinks Penn State absolutely has to be one of his top three or so schools. I understand that. This program has big expectations and in recent years, the top player in the state has gotten away on a few occasions. I’m confident that James Franklin would say that’s inexcusable and has to change. With that said, I do think this is different from players like Julian Fleming and Nolan Rucci. For starters, myself and most of my colleagues never looked at White this time last year as someone that should end up at Penn State. I thought they’d be in the mix longer and that they’d probably get an official visit at some point, but White never came off as someone who grew up watching Penn State, who grew up dreaming about playing in Beaver stadium. That wasn’t the case with guys like Fleming and Rucci, who combined have been on campus more than two dozen times. I think all of us thought early on that Fleming and Rucci could (and maybe should) end up at Penn State. So, I think it’s important to stress that. I think it’s also important to stress two other things.

1) Penn State is absolutely improving in Pennsylvania. For a few years, the state was really down on talent and that forced PSU to put their resources elsewhere. A few players fell through the cracks, and that may have hurt their standing with a couple schools, but now the state is back to the depth it normally has - it’s actually a little bit better than normal for 2022 - and you’re seeing the results of a renewed emphasis on the state. Half of their class is from Pennsylvania so far.

2) Philly is a city that revolves around its professional teams. I think just about all of you know that. Penn State has a presence down there, no doubt, but I don’t think most kids at Imhotep or Northeast or wherever grow up dreaming about playing in Beaver Stadium. Most of those kids dream about playing for the Eagles or the Sixers. That's absolutely not the case down south. Kids in Atlanta grow up thinking about SEC football. I think that’s really important to keep in mind, because Penn State often gets compared to the best programs in the country (and they should).

I’m not trying to make excuses for Penn State in Philly - and let’s also be clear that they’re absolutely improving in that city since Terry Smith took over - but I think Philadelphia is unique compared to many other big cities that also produce quality high school players. Kids in Miami dream about playing for the Florida schools. Kids in New Orleans dream about LSU. Same with the big Texas schools. Up in the northeast, and especially in Philadelphia, that’s not really the case. So, generally speaking, I think that’s made things tougher on Penn State at times, especially when expectations are high.

To answer Derick, no, I don't expect Penn State to come back into this one. I will say that I wouldn't be surprised at all if White pops up on campus one day in June, as Imhotep usually brings a group to campus each summer, but even if he does, all signs point to White ending up in the SEC.

Yeah, absolutely. Ever since the NCAA allowed for official visits before a player's senior season, it’s ramped up the significance of June. We’ve see some guys come in for officials for the Blue-White Game, but most of those are in June when school is out. This year, we’re going to see probably 40+ official visits, which will be twice the amount we saw for the Class of 2020. On top of that, we'll see unofficial visitors coming to town just about everyday, plus camps on the weekend. With the NCAA allowing schools to evaluate 2022 players who take an unofficial visit in June, I think we could realistically see fringe scholarship players on campus just about every day in June. Penn State has gone two years now without being able to test players, so even if they want to look at a potential walk-on, why not invite him up on a Thursday afternoon and put him through some different drills? This is going to be taking place just about everyday, and then of course, we’ll see official visitors over the weekend, plus bigger camps like the Whiteout Camp and the Lion Strong 7-on-7.

Shameless plug: If there was ever a time to subscribe to Rivals, it’s this summer. We’re going to be working overtime.

As for your second question, there seems to be more and more confidence that Nick Singleton is leaning towards Penn State. I did just hear recently that Bill O'Brien, now the offensive coordinator at Alabama, is making a major push with Singleton, but I think Franklin has done a great job with his family. That’s something we hear about regularly. But also, one other thing I'll add is that Penn State finds themselves in a pretty good spot with about a half-dozen really good running backs. Omarion Hampton, Ramon Brown, George Pettaway and Damari Alston all have officials locked in, along with Singleton. I'm also being told that Kaytron Allen will visit in June. I'm just waiting for the player to confirm that publicly. They only need two of these guys to sign, so although they want to lock in a commitment from Singleton as soon as possible, there is no shortage of options.

All signs point to this class being close to 25. With transfers, the safe estimate is probably around 22 or 23 high school players. That gives them some wiggle room to add additional transfers, aside from replacing those that leave the roster. We know Penn State is done at quarterback. They're very happy with Beau Pribula and Drew Allar. Two running backs is preferred, and I think two more offensive linemen is also realistic. As long as Jerry Cross stays committed, they don't have to add another tight end, although they would if they can add someone that's too good to pass up.

With just two defensive players committed - Mehki Flowers is a true athlete - it's a bit more difficult to predict how that side will go. We know they want to add at least two solid defensive ends, while defensive tackle isn't as big of a need. They already have one quality linebacker prospect in Ken Talley, so maybe just one more at that spot? The final numbers on that side of the ball could go a few different ways still.

I’ll start this off by stressing that I’m still learning the junior college scene every year. Penn State has really close ties to Lackawanna, so I feel like I have a pretty good feel for that program, but I’m still learning about many junior colleges myself. One thing that Lackawanna has a built in advantage with is that most major junior college programs aren't in the northeast. Down south and out west is where you’ll find most of the programs that can compete with Lackawanna. That gives them an edge every year in both competition, and maybe most importantly, recruiting. They’re clearly the top dog in the northeast now, and there’s no shortage of talent in the area. So now, unlike a decade or two ago, top junior college prospects in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or Baltimore or wherever don’t have to go far from home to play for an elite program that'll get them Division I attention. Nassau Community College is another solid program in the region, but Lack has clearly surpassed them now, at least in football.

In regards to Penn State, I had a good talk with Lackawanna head coach Mark Duda the other day about this. First and foremost, Franklin and his staff trust Duda and his staff. I know that's a simple answer, but that’s a major part of it. They know that Lack is doing everything they can to maximize potential. PSU also knows that the staff at Lack has an eye for talent. However, it’s not like Franklin and his staff aren’t watching these players out of high school themselves. Jaquan Brisker is a good example, and now so is Tyrece Mills. If both of those players were academically in good standing their junior year of high school, which is when a school like Penn State usually fills up their class, I absolutely believe that both players would’ve, at the very least, been asked to camp with Franklin and his staff. So, I think it comes down to familiarity and trust. Penn State already has some familiarity with these players going back to their time in high school. When you add in that they trust the staff at Lackawanna, it makes it easier for them to dive in on a player before every other Power Five school takes the plunge.

I think the first few weeks of July could be a lot of fun. Well, fun for you guys. Maybe not myself. For months now, so many players have been pointing towards June as their opportunity to gain as much knowledge as they can before deciding. Every year, we see dominos fall at a few schools in the spring or summer, and then that puts pressure on other players to commit so they don't lose out on their spot. This year, I think we could see that on a much bigger level. We'll see some players visit and commit in June, but the flurry is going to start that final week of June and last throughout the first half of July.

As for who may commit, the list is really endless. The top players want to wrap up their recruitments before their senior seasons most years anyway. Usually, we see that over a four- or five-month span. We've see that a little bit this spring, but a major chunk of that group won't come until June and July. My list of confirmed visitors is over 30 now, and we know there are a handful of players coming who haven't publicly announced yet, so Penn State's official list is really around 40. Out of that list of visitors, probably 60 or 70 percent are aiming to commit this summer.

Right now, no, I don’t believe Penn State has any silent commits, but they are common, especially in today’s world where every player has to have a graphic or a video attached their commitment on social media. Usually, we’ll hear about a player committing to the coaches early in the week, then they’ll publicly announce after the school or a friend finishes making them a graphic. Videos are also common. I’ve seen a players wait two weeks so they can get their video announcement just right. One of Penn State’s recent commits, Maleek McNeil, was a silent commit for about five days or so. There was actually a SnapChat video of McNeil committing to Phil Trautwein out on the internet, but he wanted to wait for his parents to join him over the weekend - he attends a boarding school - before announcing publicly so they could celebrate together. Myself and colleagues obviously aren’t going to ruin his moment, especially when he wants to celebrate with his family. But yeah, that’s something we see regularly nowadays. The mindset that schools have silent commits for months is rare, but a week or so is pretty common nowadays.

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