Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703041
mette, Ill., who committed to Duke; Trey Pugh of Plain City, Ohio (Northwestern); and Hunter Bryant of Sammamish, Wash. (Washington). As of early July, the Nittany Lion coaching sta: had yet to verbally o:er any other prospects in the Class of 2017. However, we do expect the sta: to add one tight end in its upcoming class. OFFENSIVE LINE PLAYERS RETURNING IN 2017 13 PROJECTED SIGNEES 4 OUTLOOK Penn State su:ered a setback in June when its top o:ensive tackle tar- get, Robert Hainsey, scratched the Lions from his short list. Hainsey, who is orig- inally from Monroeville, Pa., but now attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., announced that he was down to Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. He was expected to commit to the Irish in early July. Compounding the Li- ons' disappointment, they also 9nished second for Andrew Stueber, a three-star tackle who committed to Michigan on June 25. So, where does the staff go from here? We know that Penn State would like to add one more offensive tackle to the three commitments it has already re- ceived. Four-star prospect Mekhi Bec- ton of Highland Springs, Va., has said good things about the staff, but he's yet to visit Penn State, while three-star lineman Carter Warren of Wayne, N.J., appears to have lost some of his inter- est in the Nittany Lions in recent months. We expect Penn State to step up its efforts with both Becton and Warren, but there's a good chance that the staff will have to extend offers to a few additional offensive tackles in the coming weeks. DEFENSIVE END PLAYERS RETURNING IN 2017 7 PROJECTED SIGNEES 2 or 3 OUTLOOK With two prospects 9rmly committed – Yetur Matos of Fredericks- burg, Va., and Damion Barber of Harris- burg, Pa. – Penn State has already met its needs at defensive end. However, like all good coaching sta:s, Franklin and his assistants understand that no prospect is o;cially o: the board until he signs on the dotted line, and that speci9cally holds true for IMG Academy 9ve-star player Josh Kaindoh. A native of Balti- more, Kaindoh called Penn State his ear- ly favorite last summer and into the fall. He then had the Lions in his top four be- fore eventually making a verbal commit- ment to Maryland at the end of April. Since then, the sta: has continued to chip away at Kaindoh, as they believe they have a chance to earn an o;cial visit from him this fall, especially if the Terps struggle early in the season. Come February, we think it's likely that Penn State will use its remaining schol- arships at other positions. But until then, the coaches will continue to check in with Kaindoh just in case. DEFENSIVE TACKLE PLAYERS RETURNING IN 2017 9 PROJECTED SIGNEES 2 or 3 OUTLOOK Defensive tackle remains one of the sta:'s most important positions for 2017, but most of its highest-priority prospects have made it clear that they're in no hurry to make a decision. On June 18, three-star prospect Dalyn Wade-Per- ry of Sparta, N.J., took his sixth uno;cial visit to Penn State. Fred Hansard, a four- star player from Princeton, N.J., has also been a regular in University Park, as he took his fourth visit on the weekend of the Blue-White Game. Given the fre- quency of their visits, we believe the Nit- tany Lions have a real chance with both. Four-star tackle Donovan Jeter of Beaver Falls, Pa., rarely speaks with the FIVE-STAR STANDOUT Kaindoh committed to Mary- land this past spring, but the Nittany Lions have stayed in touch in the hope of persuad- ing him to visit this fall. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com