Blue White Illustrated

NAME POS HT WT RATING HOME SCHOOL Jerry Cross TE 6-6 220 ★★★★ Milwaukee, Wis. Rufus King Mehki Flowers Ath. 6-1 195 ★★★★ Steelton, Pa. Central Dauphin East Anthony Ivey WR 5-11 173 ★★★★ Lancaster, Pa. Manheim Township Beau Pribula QB 6-2 202 ★★★★ York, Pa. Central York Kaden Saunders WR 5-10 170 ★★★★ Westerville, Ohio Westerville South Drew Shelton OL 6-5 275 ★★★★ Downingtown, Pa. IMG Academy (Fla.) Ken Talley LB 6-2 220 ★★★★ Philadelphia, Pa. Northeast * As of Feb. 14 C L A S S O F 2 0 2 2 P E N N S T A T E R E C R U I T S * Jerry Cross, a Wisconsin native and four- star tight end prospect in the 2022 class. Even with seven early commitments, there's still plenty of work to do. At pres- ent, the plan is to sign two quarterbacks, which isn't common. California native A.J. Du?y, who recently transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and Drew Allar of Medina, Ohio, both appear to have genuine interest at this stage, al- though Du?y was particularly close with Kirk Ciarrocca, so that will likely hurt Penn State's chances. The Nittany Lions already hold one verbal commitment from Beau Pribula of York, Pa. Allar said Pribula's commitment wouldn't dissuade him from choosing the Nittany Lions if he decides they have the most to o?er. "I've watched Beau's highlights before, and he's a really good quarterback. He's really talented," Allar said. "But for me, I don't think competi- tion should scare anybody. Competition is going to make everyone better. If I were to go to Penn State, I would make him better and he would make me better. So I just look at it as if we're teammates. We're not going to be competing against each other like we hate each other. We would be super close and super good teammates." Running back is another position where the sta? would like to sign two players. Rivals250 prospect Nick Singleton of Shillington, Pa., has earned most of the attention from fans, but there's no short- age of other top running backs to con- sider. In Virginia, Ramon Brown of North Chester=eld and George Pettaway of Suf- folk have also earned early scholarship of- fers, although like so many players in this class, it's hard to gauge Penn State's chances at this stage without them being able to visit with the coaching sta?. Omarion Hampton of Clayton, N.C., is another tailback to keep an eye on. With six commitments already on of- fense, it's the defensive side of the ball that should receive much of the sta?'s focus this spring, and defensive end will be a key position of need. Fortunately for Penn State, two of the region's top overall prospects, Enai White of Philadelphia and Dani Dennis-Sutton of Baltimore, have both been on campus before. Dennis-Sut- ton, who plays at McDonogh, which has sent multiple players to University Park in recent years, has even hinted that the Nit- tany Lions are currently the team to beat. One other player to keep an eye on is Joe Strickland of Indianapolis. A four-star prospect, Strickland and his mother drove out to State College at the end of January to tour the town on their own. He doesn't plan to decide until late spring at the earliest, but he's another Rivals250 player who could realistically end up in Happy Valley. A few other key defensive players who will have a big impact on the success of the 2022 class are defensive tackle Kwan Williams, linebackers Jaishawn Barham and Abdul Carter, and defensive backs Oliver Bridges, Keenan Nelson Jr. and Keon Sabb. At defensive tackle, Williams, who also plays at McDonogh in Baltimore, was close to committing to Penn State re- cently, but he decided to hold o? and visit more schools =rst. The Nittany Lions re- main the favorites. At linebacker, Carter is probably the most important prospect when it comes to a combination of Penn State's recruiting board, plus the sta?'s chances of earning his commitment. With that said, the Philadelphia resident isn't one to open up much, so it has been di@cult at times to gauge just how serious he is about Penn State. Barham, who plays at St. Frances in Baltimore, has been on campus before, but he's also a nation- ally recruited prospect with more than two dozen o?ers, many of which are from the nation's top programs. At cornerback, both Bridges, from the Bullis School in Maryland, and Nelson, who plays at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadel- phia, have the Lions among their top two or three schools, while Sabb is a nationally re- cruited prospect from New Jersey who just recently moved to IMG Academy in Florida. Nelson is arguably the most im- portant defensive back in this class, and Notre Dame and Penn State are the two schools recruiting him the hardest. ■

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