Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E B I G P I C T U R E / / / / / / / sensus rankings. Only Ohio State fared better, landing fourth overall to finish in its customary spot atop the conference rankings. Michigan was third in the Big Ten and 19th overall, a surprisingly low finish that may have been due partly to coach Jim Harbaugh's dalliance with the NFL the past two postseasons, and partly to a sluggish response to the changes that the NCAA's new stance on name, image and likeness compensation has wrought. Rounding out the Big Ten's top five were Michigan State (24th) and Nebraska (29th). Penn State's class was a testament to the faith that prospects displayed in the program's future. That's the case with every class, of course, but especially with this one. The Lions may have offered a glimpse of their potential last fall, going 11-2 and winning the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1994 season, but most of the prospects in the 2023 class didn't know when they made their decisions that a turnaround was imminent. Of the 23 players in the class, 17 committed before the season began. The Lions had gone 11-11 during the 2020 and '21 sea- sons, but the recruits had confidence there would soon be a return to form. Franklin and his staff had been bank- ing on that. During his time as a head coach, first at Vanderbilt and then at PSU, he had suffered just one sub-.500 regular season, and that was an outlier in every way, a 4-5 finish during the COVID-wracked 2020 campaign. While it was true that that Lions didn't spring back into title conten- tion the following year, finishing 7-6, the difficulties of those two seasons weren't representative of his coach- ing career or Penn State's stature as a program. "I think when people look at Penn State, they see our history and tradi- tions, the type of fan support that we get," Franklin said. "That's a huge sell- ing point for us. "I also would make the argument that if you look at our staff, what we've been able to do over the last 12 years, we've been pretty consistent. "Obviously, the last two years are not indicative of who we've been over the long term. Whether it's media nation- ally or whether it's high school coaches or college coaches who really under- stand the game, I think people felt like those were outliers, and not really our trajectory." ■ P E N N S T A T E S I G N E E S • T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 2 3 NAME POS HT WT RATING* HOME SCHOOL Mega Barnwell TE 6-6 250 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Fredericksburg, Va. Riverbend Alex Birchmeier OL 6-5 285 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Ashburn, Va. Broad Run Ty Blanding DT 6-1 265 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Bronx, N.Y. Christ The King Anthony Donkoh OL 6-5 320 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Aldie, Va. Lightridge Kaveion Keys LB 6-2 195 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Richmond, Va. Varina Jameial Lyons DE 6-5 250 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Philadelphia Roman Catholic King Mack S 5-10 175 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Miami St. Thomas Aquinas London Montgomery RB 5-10 180 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Scranton, Pa. Scranton Prep Joseph Mupoyi DE 6-5 240 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Upper Marlboro, Md. St. Thomas More (Conn.) DaKaari Nelson DB 6-3 200 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Livingston, Ala. Selma Chimdy Onoh OL 6-5 275 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Baltimore Dundalk Lamont Payne Jr. DB 6-0 185 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Carnegie, Pa. Chartiers Valley Andrew Rappleyea TE 6-4 235 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Millbrook, N.Y. Milton Academy (Mass.) Mason Robinson DE 6-3 225 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Randallstown, Md. McDonogh School Ta'Mere Robinson LB 6-3 230 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Pittsburgh Brashear Tony Rojas LB 6-2 195 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Fairfax, Va. Fairfax Joey Schlaffer TE 6-5 220 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Reading, Pa. Exeter Township Jaxon Smolik QB 6-1 205 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Van Meter, Iowa Dowling Catholic Carmelo Taylor WR 5-11 160 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Roanoke, Va. Patrick Henry Zion Tracy DB 5-11 175 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Hempstead, N.Y. St. Thomas More (Conn.) Cam Wallace RB 5-9 175 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Mount Vernon, Ga. Montgomery County Elliot Washington II DB 5-11 190 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Venice, Fla. Venice J'ven Williams OL 6-5 290 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Reading, Pa. Wyomissing * On3 player ratings as of Feb. 13