Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 51 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M more notable takeaways was how well the Nittany Lions have been doing with 2026 signal-caller Dia Bell of American Heritage High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. After returning to State College for an unofficial visit at the end of March, Bell made it clear to several reporters that Penn State ranked among his top three or four schools heading into a pivotal summer. Bell is the No. 2 quarterback and No. 14 overall prospect in the 2026 class, per On3's scouts. He is a very important prospect who could be committed by the start of his junior season, and the Nittany Lions have a real chance with him. THE BAD Key Misses Continue There's only one place to start: On April 4, Penn State lost out on four-star quarterback Matt Zollers of Royersford, Pa. Ranked as the No. 2 quarterback in the country by On3 and No. 5 nationally in the Industry Ranking, Zollers sur- prised some observers by looking past traditional blue-blood schools like Penn State and Georgia and instead commit- ting to Missouri, which went 11-2 last season but didn't post a winning record in its previous four campaigns. Penn State isn't going to let up on Zollers at all. Spring-Ford's athletics department confirmed on April 24 that PSU offensive coordinator Andy Ko- telnicki and quarterbacks coach Danny O'Brien had dropped by the school to see Zollers. But he's certainly not going to be an easy flip, and he's not the only key prospect in the 2025 cycle who ap- pears likely to elude Penn State's grasp. There are a number of talented play- ers who had been expected to take offi- cial visits in June but ended up commit- ting to other schools before those trips could take place. The most notable of those players is four-star defensive lineman Trent Wil- son of Upper Marlboro, Md. Wilson, who is On3's No. 94 overall prospect and No. 10 defensive lineman, had taken six unofficial visits to Penn State, lead- ing many to believe that the Nittany Li- ons were in a strong position. Instead, he announced on April 10 that he was committing to Oklahoma after just one visit to Norman a few weeks prior. That doesn't happen very often, but it con- tinued a streak in which some of the Nittany Lions' top targets in the 2025 cycle elected to go elsewhere. Other notable prospects who ended up committing in April were wide re- ceivers Romero Ison (USC) and Lotzeir Brooks (Alabama), tight ends Nate Rob- erts (Ohio State) and Hayden Bradley (Ole Miss), and defensive lineman Dar- ren Ikinnagbon (Georgia). Blue-White Visitor List Was Down The spring game has arguably been Penn State's most consistent event when it comes to eliciting commit- ments. From 2015 to 2023, the Nittany Lions received at least one commit- ment every year in which a traditional game was held. The streak began with Zech McPhearson in April 2015 and continued with C.J. Thorpe and Rob- ert Martin (2016), Nana Asiedu (2017), Caedan Wallace (2018), Cole Brevard (2019), Jameial Lyons (2022) and Caleb Brewer (2023). Disregarding 2020, when the game was canceled due to COVID, and 2021, when attendance was limited, the Nittany Lion staff had an excellent streak going. Not only did that steak end this year, but the overall list was also down. All of the uncommitted 2025 prospects who attended the game were three-star prospects a few weeks ago, although Davenport and Adirika were upgraded to four-star status in On3's most recent rankings. To be fair, Penn State hosted a very strong list of prospects for practice visits in the four weeks leading up to the Blue-White Game. In addition, the list of 2026 prospects who visited was very good. It was a solid weekend for the staff, but when you compare the list to some previous years, it didn't feature some of the splashier names we've seen before. ■ Penn State has continued to pursue quarterback Matt Zollers of Royersford, Pa., but the four-star prospect is considered to be firm in his commitment to Missouri. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER