Twitter Mailbag: Importance of Official Visits, NLI & Much 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. Check out his answers below.

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- Yeah, this is one position group that I think fans should be excited about. As you mentioned, there are five running backs who have publicly stated that they plan to take official visits next month, beginning with Ramon Brown and Nick Singleton that second weekend, June 11-13. They’ll then host Omarion Hampton, June 18-20, with George Pettaway and Damari Alston set to attend that final weekend, June 25-27. We know Penn State is also pushing to host IMG Academy's Kaytron Allen for an official visit, too. So, I think all six of those players are realistic, although, if I’m being honest, I think Brown, Hampton, Pettaway and Singleton are the four to really focus on. All four of those guys have the Lions among their top three or so schools. If I had to make a prediction today, I would lean towards Brown and Singleton, but only Singleton has actually seen campus before, so it’s hard to predict when the players have no idea what to expect until they drive into town. Not to mention, that’s the case for almost all of these schools they’re seeing, not just Penn State. But overall, I think the important thing for fans to know is that this is a deep group, so even if someone like Singleton were to get away, but they still landed Hampton and Pettaway, James Franklin and Ja’Juan Seider would be very happy with that haul.

- For Penn State, this really is a bigger deal than at most other schools. Anyone who has flown in and out of University Park Airport knows that it can get expensive if you want to fly here directly. Families within the region can make the drive in a few hours, but for those national recruits who are coveted by all the top programs, Penn State’s location is absolutely a disadvantage at times. Currently, there are 34 players who have publicly confirmed that they plan to be here on an official next month. That list will be around 40 when it’s all said and done. I haven’t seen all of the visit lists out there for Penn State’s competitors, but a few sources I speak with inside Lasch think that they'll end up hosting more official visitors this summer than most other schools. Franklin and his staff know that a sizable portion of their top overall targets won’t wait until the fall to decide, so for most of these kids, they're going to get one crack at impressing them and that's it.

For those unaware, schools get 56 official visits to use throughout the year. You can also roll over six from the previous year if you don’t use them, so that number will be 62 for this class. But even then, that’ll leave the staff with about 20 or so official visits for the rest of the year. In most other years, they used somewhere around 20 official visits in the summer, so I think that speaks to the importance of this. As for how many we’ll see commit, I think June and the first few weeks of July will be extremely busy throughout the Power Five schools. Penn State is off to a better start than most other programs, but I still think we’ll see this class closer to 16 or 17 commitments once we get through this run. Honestly, it could end up being closer to 20 and that wouldn’t surprise me. Once the dominos start falling, not just at Penn State, but everywhere, players won’t want to miss out on playing for their top school.

- When it comes to the committed players, you almost always have to lean toward the quarterbacks. I think Beau Pribula has already done a great job helping with this class. His friendships with Mehki Flowers and Anthony Ivey absolutely played a role in their decisions. Pribula, and really all of the Central PA prospects, are building a good friendship with Singleton, too. I also have to mention Kaden Saunders. I hear his name mentioned all the time when I speak with some of Penn State’s top uncommitted players. Oregon WR Darrius Clemons was just praising their relationship this week.

With that all said, if Penn State is able to land Dani Dennis-Sutton, that’ll be a major addition that’ll absolutely grab the attention of players throughout the region. In my eyes, Dennis-Sutton is a five-star player. If he stays at No. 25 overall in our rankings, he’ll be a five-star by the time it’s all said and done - Rivals only hands out about a dozen five-star ratings initially, and then adds to the group throughout the year. Whenever you add a five-star to your class, it gets the attention of their peers, not to mention a nice boost in the team rankings, too.

- No, I don’t really see any underlying reason. If you look at the defensive players who have committed elsewhere, I can’t think of many that Penn State was truly going all out for in the weeks leading up to their commitment. Defensive end Aiden Gobaira’s commitment to Notre Dame fits that category. Also, cornerback Ryan Turner, who just committed to Ohio State. PSU definitely would’ve taken those two, but there really aren’t too many other players that fit that category. You could maybe add DE/TE Darren Agu, who also committed to Notre Dame, although Penn State didn’t offer him until February, so it’s not like there was a longstanding relationship there. Most of the other players that fans will recognize - Popeye Williams, Kenny Fletcher, Anthony Johnson, Kwan Williams, Nyair Graham, among others - were all kind of in wait and see mode. So, I don’t see a reason for fans to be concerned there. Sure, Enai White is headed elsewhere, and you can point out a few other elite defensive players that aren’t trending PSU’s currently, but I would also argue that a few of them - Jihaad Campbell and Shawn Murphy come to mind - were never going to end up here. For the most part, when I look at who’s still left, and maybe more importantly, who they have a realistic shot with, I think Brent Pry and the rest of the defensive staff should feel good.

- I’ll start this off by saying that I’m still learning the ins and outs of all of this like you guys are, but yeah, this is absolutely an advantage to the schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico. Let’s also be clear: The schools in those states are already using this on the recruiting trail. A bunch of SEC schools have been discussing this with recruits for months now. From what I understand, the NCAA still has to formally approve this. Mark Emmert just said last week that he wants to push this through in the next 6-8 weeks, but there will be a ton of pushback, especially from schools like Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and the rest of those major southern programs that have to recruit against the schools that are based in the states above.

Personally, I think that’s where this will get tripped up. These schools, as well as every other major program across the country, will push back hard on any unfair advantages. I think that’s what will happen, but if it doesn’t, you’ll see emergency bills in states all across the country this summer. But yeah, this is absolutely something that schools are pushing right now. If a recruit and his family do their homework, they’ll know that this is coming everywhere. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.

As for your second question, look, I’d be a hypocrite if I told anyone that they shouldn’t be hitting up Division I prospects on Twitter. I do it pretty much everyday. Now, obviously, why I do it is a little different compared to fans, but I can’t in good faith tell people what they should and shouldn’t do. The one thing I’ll stress is that, oftentimes, there are underlying reasons for why a player did or didn’t chose your school. They’ll tell people like myself one thing, but many times, there are family reasons that they don’t discuss publicly, which is fine. They’re teenagers. Their lives shouldn’t be in public for all to see.

Also, many times, it’s the school who decides they don’t want a specific player. I’ve seen fans from many schools berate players on Twitter for not picking school A, even though that player would’ve loved to have been part of that program. Players don’t often admit that stuff publicly because it makes them or maybe a coach look bad, but that happens much more than people realize. At the end of the day, just remember that you’re talking to teenagers. We were all that age once, some of us more fragile than others. Just because you’re a big tough football player doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings.

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