Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 15 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M By The Numbers 2 Penn Staters in Pro Football Focus' Way-Too-Early 2025 NFL Mock Draft. Modeling only the first round, PFF had junior safety Kevin Winston Jr. going 15th overall to the Los Angeles Rams and defensive end Abdul Carter going 22nd to the Atlanta Falcons. If those predictions come true, the 2025 draft will be the third of the James Franklin coaching era to feature a pair of Nittany Lions in the first round. 17th Abdul Carter's ranking in CBSSports.com's list of the top 100 players in college football this season. Writer Blake Brockermeyer described Carter as a "dynamic, twitched-up force who is likely to have a lot of success mak- ing the move" from linebacker to defensive end. The only other Nittany Lion in CBS Sports' top 100 was ju- nior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton at No. 79. Preparing for his first season as a full-time starter, Dennis-Sutton "has a nice motor and works the offensive linemen's edges well and converts with power," Brockermeyer wrote. "I'm high on Penn State's defensive front." 22 Victories this season by freshman pitcher Bridget Ne- meth following the Penn State softball team's 4-1 win over host Rutgers on May 3. Nemeth tied the school record for most pitching wins in a season, joining Bailey Parshall and Kelly McCann, who won 22 games in 2022 and 2001, re- spectively. Nemeth was 22-6 with 15 complete games and a 1.71 ERA heading into the NCAA Tournament. 58 Miles between Olumuyiwa Fashanu's home in Waldorf, Md., and CHOP ROBINSON's home in Gaithersburg, Md. Both players watched the NFL Draft with their families rather than traveling to Detroit, site of this year's selection show. Coach James Franklin was with the Fashanus when Olu was chosen 11th overall by the New York Jets. After the celebration, the Penn State coach quickly headed north and arrived at the Robinsons' door about 70 minutes later, just in time to give Chop a hug following his selection by the Miami Dolphins with the 21st pick. 70.2 Gracie Merkle's field goal percentage as a fresh- man at Bellarmine University. Merkle, a 6-foot-6 center who announced in April that she was transferring to Penn State, posted the nation's highest shooting percentage during the 2022-23 season. She led the Knights in scoring (15.1 points per game) and rebounding (11.0 boards per game) and won Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year honors before taking a medical redshirt in 2023-24. The Mt. Washington, Ky., native will be a redshirt sophomore when she suits up for the Lady Lions next season. 181st Lyrick Samuel's spot in the most recent On300 rankings for the 2025 recruiting cycle. Samuel, a 6-4, 170-pound receiver from Brooklyn, N.Y., made the biggest leap of any prospect in Penn State's 2025 class, mov- ing up 54 spots since the previous rankings were released in late February. "Lyrick Samuel has a lot of things going for him the more I learn about him," said Charles Power, On3's director of scouting. "First off, he should be a 2026 guy, age-wise. He's extremely young. When you look at his development, it to- tally makes sense. This guy is 16 years old, and he's getting better and better at a rate that's probably a little faster than some of the other receivers that we've known about for a while." 389 Number of Penn State players who have been drafted into the NFL, an all-time total that ranks seventh among FBS schools. The Nittany Lions trail Notre Dame (532), USC (529), Ohio State (489), Oklahoma (417), Michigan (415) and Alabama (411). "Penn State has struggled to get over the hump in the Big Ten, with rivals Ohio State and Michigan dominating play on the field," noted Dan Lyons of Athlon Sports. "The Nittany Lions have consistently turned out NFL talent, though, and [this year] had a pair of players go in the first round for the first time since 2021." PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL