Blue White Illustrated

if the ranking isn't reflective of a deeper problem, then there's not really any- thing to rebound from. Penn State just needs to keep on keeping on. Still, if there are going to be rankings, you'd prefer to be somewhere near the top of them, no matter what the criteria may be. As of this writing, the Lions' 2022 class was rated fourth by Rivals, with all seven of their committed prospects hav- ing received four-star ratings. Back in December, Franklin talked about the need to have a flexible ap- proach to recruiting, to be able to go where the talent is. Pennsylvania has been producing fewer elite prospects than it did a generation ago when Joe Paterno was relying on in-state players like LaVar Arrington, Brandon Short and Kyle Brady to keep his roster stocked, so Penn State has had to look regionally, nationally and even interna- tionally. Late in the 2021 cycle, the Nit- tany Lions landed Harrison Wallace III out of Alabama, signing the three-star receiver without ever having welcomed him to campus for an in-person visit. They also got Davon Townley Jr. out of Minnesota, Rodney McGraw out of In- diana and Christian Veilleux out of Ot- tawa (by way of New York and Maryland). Veilleux, who enrolled in January, is one of five Canadians on Penn State's 2021 roster. "I felt like the staff did a really good job of being flexible and creative and going to places that we haven't typically gone to, going to a place like Alabama and getting a guy late in the process who had never seen the place who we think very, very highly of," Franklin said. "Those things are important. We were able to be very successful in Michigan this year, and that helped us as well. So at the end of the day, I'm pleased with how it played out." It's still playing out, of course. It'll play out over the next four to five years, and only then will we know just how suc- cessful this effort really was. For now, Penn State fans can only hope that this group, largely made in the Motor City, will be able to find some open road to tear up in the seasons to come. ■ NAME POS HT WT RATING HOME SCHOOL Nate Bruce OL 6-3 330 ★★★ Harrisburg, Pa. Harrisburg Jamari Buddin LB 6-2 204 ★★★ Ypsilanti, Mich. Belleville Liam Clifford WR 6-1 191 ★★★ Maineville, Ohio St. Xavier Jeffrey Davis Jr. CB 6-0 170 ★★★ West Hartford, Conn. Kingswood Oxford Khalil Dinkins TE 6-4 221 ★★★ Wexford, Pa. North Allegheny Kalen King CB 5-11 176 ★★★★ Detroit, Mich. Cass Tech Kobe King LB 6-0 237 ★★★★ Detroit, Mich. Cass Tech Rodney McGraw DE 6-4 250 ★★★ Elkhart, Ind. Elkhart Central Jaylen Reed Saf. 6-0 196 ★★★★ Detroit, Mich. Martin Luther King Jr. Sander Sahaydak PK 6-0 159 ★★★ Bethlehem, Pa. Liberty Landon Tengwall OL 6-5 303 ★★★★ Annapolis, Md. Good Counsel Davon Townley Jr. DE 6-6 250 ★★★★ Minneapolis, Minn. North Community Christian Veilleux QB 6-4 200 ★★★ Ottawa, Ontario Bullis School (Md.) Harrison Wallace III WR 6-1 180 ★★★ Pike Road, Ala. Pike Road Zakee Wheatley Saf. 6-2 183 ★★★★ Crofton, Md. Archbishop Spalding Lonnie White Jr. WR 6-2 201 ★★★★ Coatesville, Pa. Malvern Prep * As of Feb. 14 C L A S S O F 2 0 2 1 P E N N S T A T E R E C R U I T S * >>

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