Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 10 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State all but completed work on its 2026 recruiting class in re- cent weeks. With 24 commitments as of mid-July, James Franklin and his staff should once again finish with a top-five class in the Big Ten. And yet, to many fans who follow re- cruiting closely, June was a disappoint- ment. While the Nittany Lions man- aged to add four-star prospects such as defensive end Jackson Ford and tight end Pierce Petersohn, a number of high- profile recruiting targets decided to go elsewhere. It was those players who had message boards buzzing in the second half of the month — not just because they had spurned the Nittany Lions but because, in many cases, the programs they chose were among PSU's biggest rivals, both on the field and in recruit- ing. Notre Dame, in particular, drew the ire of many. On June 18, four-star of- fensive tackle Grayson McKeogh of Perkasie, Pa., chose the Fighting Irish over his home-state school. Listed 13th nationally by Rivals, which merged with On3 in July, McKeogh attends La Salle College High near Philadelphia. Un- like some other losses, which had to do with NIL offers, McKeogh chose Notre Dame because of academics. That's long been considered one of Penn State's strengths, but it didn't work to the Li- ons' advantage in this instance. Two days later, one of McKeogh's high school teammates, four-star safety Joey O'Brien, also chose to leave his home state and head to South Bend. It didn't help when O'Brien earned top- performer honors at the Rivals Five- Star Challenge just days later, then was named On3's MVP at the OT7 Finals. For now, he's a four-star prospect, but O'Brien has absolutely made the case this summer to earn a fifth star. The Fighting Irish also managed to earn a commitment from the nation's fourth-ranked cornerback, Khary Ad- ams. A native of Towson, Md., Adams told BWI after his Penn State official visit in May that the Nittany Lions have "always been my No. 1 school." An offi- cial visit to South Bend quickly changed his mind. Unfortunately for the Lions, those were far from the only players who chose to commit elsewhere. Losing out on New Jersey's No. 1 prospect, defen- sive end Luke Wafle, was particularly painful. Even after adding his older brother, Owen, to the roster via the transfer portal last January, Penn State knew it still had work to do. Ohio State and Texas seemingly ranked as the Hun School prospect's top choices at that point. Nevertheless, PSU appeared to be in a good position. Then, an offer from USC in Febru- ary prompted Wafle to head west for an unofficial visit. When he followed that trip with an official visit to Los Ange- les in June, it became clear that Lin- coln Riley and his staff were prepared to be aggressive financially in hope of swaying Wafle away from Ohio State and Penn State. On3's Steve Wiltfong reported that the Trojans offered more than $1 million per year. That was far beyond what both the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes were willing to pay for Wafle, Nittany Lions Stung By High-Profile Recruiting Losses RYA N S N Y D E R | RYA N . S N Y D E R @ O N 3 . C O M Four-star offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh chose Notre Dame over the Nittany Lions in June. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER