Two big decisions on deck as PSU aims to keep winning recruiting battles
Penn State has not won every recruiting battle during the James Franklin era, but the Lions have often punched at or above their weight and landed prospects who were both highly-rated and high on the program's big board.
Last year was not a great example of that, however, and the program has been up and down in terms of landing its biggest wants of late, both in Pa., and in general.
That has not been the case in the Class of 2022, however.
In Franklin's opinion, nothing has changed to help the program surge to the No. 2 spot nationally. The dominoes are all just falling Penn State's way, from five-star end Dani Dennis-Sutton to four-star running back Nicholas Singleton and numerous prospects in between.
"I don't really see it any different," Franklin said. "Our approach, our methodology, have really been the same for my entire time at Penn State, and also for my time before that in the SEC. Obviously, last year, we had to adjust, and I think we've adjusted well. COVID created some challenges. It created some opportunities, and how were you going to embrace them? And I think we've done that.
"I think sometimes, you're going to get a guy that maybe you wouldn't on another year for a number of reasons. Right now we're having some success, we want to continue building on that."
The latest building block for the nation's No. 2 class came on Monday in the form of Florida three-star corner Camron Miller, who picked the Lions over Virginia Tech. The 6-foot, 180-pound defender is the 10th player to select Penn State since July began, and the fun might now be over yet, as two more big-time decisions are scheduled for later this week.
Cristian Driver will go first, as he will commit on his birthday, Thursday, July 29. Wisconsin seems to have taken itself out of the mix for the four-star athlete who could be a safety or receiver at the next level, which leaves Oklahoma as the only other realistic option. Penn State has a unanimous FutureCast lead for the Rivals250 standout whose dad, Donald, played for Franklin during his one season with the Green Bay Packers.
A few days later, KJ Winston will end his recruitment by announcing July 31. The three-sar safety from DeMatha Catholic has a top-two of Maryland and Penn State, and the Lions lead in that FutureCast, too.
All told, then, Penn State could very well enter August with 24 commitments in the Class of 2022, which will cement its top status and also all but end its hunt for senior players. That said, space for one or two more would remain, and the Lions will keep pushing without changing their approach. And, if you ask Franklin, they haven't all along, even if things are currently rolling at an all-time high.
"I look at the scope of the work, not just at Penn State, but at Vanderbilt, and we've done as good of a job recruiting as most in the country, so we're always trying to grow, we're always trying to evolve, we're always trying to get better," Franklin said. "We missed on some targets that we wish we didn't miss on for a variety of reasons that you don't really care about, but at the end of the day, we're winning a few more of those right now, and that's what you have to do in major college football.
"The more days you win in the offseason, the more likely you're going to win in-season, and that's recruiting, that's game plan, that's development, that's preparation. It's all the things that go into being successful."
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