Blue White Illustrated

R ecruiting never ends in the world of Di- vision I football, and for those in the Football Bowl Subdivision, work on the Class of 2022 is already well underway. From the outside looking in, it may seem like the upcoming class is just starting to come together, but in reality this is more like the halfway point. Already, James Franklin and his assistants have extended more than 300 scholarship o?ers nation- wide in the 2022 recruiting cycle. That number is higher than most years. Because no one has been able to evaluate prospects in person, many schools are taking a bet- ter-safe-than-sorry approach, extending verbal scholarship o?ers early and starting to build relationships rather than trying to get involved with prospects later on. Penn State is also ahead of the compe- tition when it comes to commitments, as the Nittany Lions' class already includes seven players. That number had been eight, but just a few weeks ago, Franklin and his sta? lost their =rst commitment of the season when Atlanta resident Holden Staes decided to open up his re- cruitment following the announcement that his lead recruiter and would-be po- sition coach, Tyler Bowen, was leaving for a job in the NFL. "I have been thinking about this for about a month, and once Coach Bowen decided to leave, that really set it o? and made it the right time to do this," Staes said. "I called coach James Franklin [Feb. 4] and let him know I am no longer com- mitted to Penn State." Promoting Ty Howle, who had already been helping recruit Staes and all of PSU's tight end prospects, should help the sta? stay in the mix, but it's going to be hard for them to earn a second commitment from Staes with Bowen no longer around. With more than two dozen scholarship o?ers, Staes said that schools such as Alabama, Georgia and LSU hadn't let up at all the past six months, while other schools like Clemson and Oklahoma haven't o?ered yet but are showing interest. Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, this is one position where they already have built plenty of depth. In addition to the tight ends they signed in their three most recent classes, they have a commitment from at their respective positions, while Brockermeyer is rated third. It's easy to see why I believe the Crimson Tide have booked themselves a place in the next four College Football Play- offs. The Buckeyes are right behind Ala- bama with the No. 2 class in the coun- try. Ryan Day and his sta? outdistanced every other team in the Big Ten, totaling 2,988 points from Ri- vals. That's 541 points ahead of Michi- gan, which came in second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally. Ohio State's class features three =ve-star and 16 four-star prospects. Only one player in the Buckeyes' class received a three-star rating from Ri- vals. The Buckeyes' three =ve-star re- cruits are receiver Emeka Egbuka of Steilacoom, Wash.; guard Donovan Jackson of Houston; and weakside de- fensive end Jack Sawyer of Pickering- ton, Ohio. All three are rated No. 1 in the country at their respective posi- tions. Clemson, while =nishing third in average star rating, was seventh over- all. That's because the Tigers' class has only 19 members, two of whom received =ve-star ratings and 14 of whom earned four stars. Their =ve- star recruits are o?ensive tackle Tris- tan Leigh of Fairfax, Va., and outside linebacker Barrett Carter of Suwanee, Ga. Carter is ranked No. 1 at his posi- tion, and it's also worth mentioning that Clemson signed two Rivals 6.0 four-star recruits in running back Will Shipley of Matthews, N.C., and re- ceiver Beaux Collins of Bell>ower, Calif. Looking beyond Alabama, the Southeastern Conference enjoyed a typically excellent recruiting year. LSU (No. 3), Texas A&M (No. 4) and Georgia (No. 6) all =nished in the top six, while Florida was 11th, Tennessee 17th and Mississippi 18th. Jimbo Fisher has taken Texas A&M's recruiting to a di?erent level. The Ag- >> With seven prospects committed, Lions off to fast start in 2022 cycle | Holden Staes wasn't the only tight end who decided to open up his recruitment recently. On Jan. 20, a few weeks before Staes de- committed from Penn State, 2023 prospect Mathias Barnwell an- nounced that he would begin con- sidering other schools again, ending a commitment that lasted seven months. His decision wasn't related to Tyler Bowen's exit, but instead re>ected his belief that he commit- ted too early. The Spotsylvania, Va., native became the youngest player to ever commit to Penn State's foot- ball program when he announced his decision back in June. The Nittany Lion coaching sta? o?ered Barnwell in October 2019, midway through his freshman sea- son. He didn't play this past year aAer Virginia canceled fall sports, but he still holds 15 scholarship of- fers. Notable schools that are chas- ing him include Maryland, Nebraska, Mississippi, Pitt, USC and Virginia Tech. –R.S. 2023 TE Barnwell reopens recruitment SEE NATIONAL PAGE 74

• Cover