Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1041428
White Out game makes big impression Nittany Lions welcome elite group of prospects for showdown against Ohio State | P enn State hosted arguably the most talented group of prospects in the program's history last month for its White Out game against Ohio State. As expected, roughly 150 high school players were in attendance, about half of whom will ultimately end up at Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The other half were either potential walk-on targets or friends of friends. However, it was the sheer number of top-ranked prospects that made this list really stand out. Penn State hosted six prospects who have earned a 3ve-star rating from Ri- vals.com: o4ensive linemen Kardell Thomas and Darnell Wright, defensive linemen Zach Harrison and Bryan Bresee, tight end Arik Gilbert and linebacker An- toine Sampah. For some perspective, the sta4 didn't host a single 3ve-star prospect for the 2016 game against the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions hosted three 3ve-star players last year for their White Out game against Michigan: future Penn State running back Devyn Ford, as well as Harrison and Bresee. Maybe the most noteworthy aspect of the guest list was the number of Rivals100 prospects who made the trip, as Penn State hosted 18 2019 and 2020 players who rank in the top 100. That's twice as many as attended last year's White Out game, as PSU hosted only nine Rivals100 prospects for the win over the Wolverines. The discrepancy is even bigger when you look two years back, as Penn State hosted almost 3ve times the number Rivals100 prospects for last month's game against the Buckeyes as it did in 2016. Even more impressive is that the aforementioned totals don't in- clude any of the 2021 prospects who were in attendance, a few of whom will surely make the cut. Finally, Penn State hosted 33 players in the Rivals250, more than double the number that attended last year's White Out. Those numbers don't include play- F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G For daily and breaking news updates on Penn State football recruiting, visit bwi.rivals.com. KEY PROSPECT Isaac, a defensive end from Brooklyn, N.Y., is ex- pected to make his de- cision in the next few weeks. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com