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Friday Mailbag: Will James Franklin to USC rumors impact recruiting?

Here we go Penn State fans. You ready?

Weekends like this are why so many of you pay thousands of dollars for season tickets. Assuring that you don't miss those two or three major home games is worth the price, and big-time nonconference games against SEC opponents don't come around very often. Although we (the media) didn't miss the swaying in the press box after big plays, last year was so boring without the crowd. Hope you all have a blast tomorrow night.

Of course, showcasing the best that Penn State has to offer is another key part of this weekend, and after a season with no in-person recruiting, Saturday night's visitor list is one of the deepest I've ever seen, with over 50 uncommitted scholarship prospects expected to attend. We'll have more on that in a notebook later today.

However, this week has also been marred with rumors that head coach James Franklin is one of the favorites for the open USC job, so there's a lot to get into. Let's go.

The Penn State Nittany Lion football program will host more than 20 committed prospects for the White Out game against Auburn.
Future Penn State wide receiver Kaden Saunders is one of over 20 committed players who are expected to be in attendance Saturday night.
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- What kind of effect do Franklin to USC rumors have on recruits interest, if any? @witt_michaelj

- Does CJF rumors hurt in the short term? @Willy16175083

- Have you heard any scuttle from recruits both committed and uncommitted about JF and USC? I don’t think JF goes, but it is leverage to get his assistants more money and facility upgrades. @realhunntdog23

If you would've told me a week ago that I was leading with this subject, I would've never believed it. Later in the year, yeah, probably, but on Sept. 17? Things change fast in college football.

This was a question that I was asked a lot this week, both on Twitter and on the message boards, but the honest answer is that it's too early to really say. I do expect USC to at least reach out to Franklin and/or his agent. They'd be dumb not to. He has a lot of qualities that would fit well with that program.

With that said, we've been down this road many times. We know that James will absolutely use leverage to his advantage when he needs to, as he should. Penn State is making a lot of improvements to its facilities and in other areas, but there's a lot of work to do beyond what has already been discussed or put into action.

I've had a few prospects and/or their families ask me for my opinion this week, but until we see reports that he interviewed or something to that degree by respected national journalists, I don't get the sense that there's much to worry about among the committed players. Those who haven't committed, that's tough to say. It's rare for a recruit to truly open up about that kind of stuff (especially to a Penn State reporter) before he decides.

If he were to even interview, then yes, that will be an issue, but I don't see this job getting filled in the near future. USC will get a quality coach, but I'd be surprised to see a top coaching staff from any school just abandon the program midseason. That wouldn't be good for their reputation.

So, this one should drag out for awhile. As of now, I don't get the sense that anyone is panicking. If reports come out that he interviews, then they will.

- Do u see any guys who commit a day or 2 after the white if so who? @Rickymartello04

- Any chance of a commitment during Saturday? @jparquette11

- Likelihood of a commitment surge after the whiteout? @TaeCity__

I hit on this topic in last week's mailbag a bit.

To start, I don't see a surge of four or five commitments coming. That would surprise me. 2022 offensive lineman Andre Roye is expected to decide next week, Sept. 22, although as of this morning, he wasn't expected to attend this game. I think there are quite a few players attending who probably have Penn State as their favorite right now, but remember, the vast majority of Class of 2023 prospects haven't seen games in person yet. A few made it out in 2019, but most of them weren't being invited to games when they were freshmen.

One player I've talked about a lot in recent weeks is Chartiers Valley cornerback Lamont Payne. In fact, I discussed him just yesterday in the most intriguing recruit story that Greg Pickel and I did. I laid out all the reasons why Payne makes sense in that article. Not only did he camp this summer, but he also did a personal day with the staff and attended the Lasch Bash. All three of his trips to University Park showed him something different, so he's ahead of the majority of 2023 prospects when it comes to truly knowing what both the football program and the university have to offer. He makes the most sense and would be my pick for a commitment, if one comes at all.

In regards to someone else, it's certainly possible. Penn State just offered tight end Joey Schlaffer this past week. He's the half-brother of Michal Menet. Obviously, the family is very close to the program, so he'll be someone to watch closely now. We've seen commitments the day of or in the days that follow in the past. There's a good channce that someone is going to excited and want to commit Saturday night, but the real question is more so will Penn State be ready to accept that commitment?

Not all verbal scholarship offers are the same.

- Other than Allar and Beau, who is (are) the most marketable 22 recruits, NIL wise? Which semi local business should consider invest in them? Thanks. @Ease_Dooly

Social media reach is a big part of the equation for the vast majority of players, so I checked out everyone's numbers last night. I linked the top 10 for both Instagram and Twitter below. I'm too old for Tik Tok.

Cristian Driver has a massive gap on everyone else when it comes to Instagram. His 48.7k followers are almost five times higher than everyone else. That number will absolutely be of interest to companies when he starts contributing. He's the son of a former NFL player who earned more than 40 scholarship offers, so the fact that he leads isn't a surprise, though is impressive. There aren't too many recruits who have that kind of following on any platform.

But, the key word above is contributing. Notice you're not hearing about a ton of endorsements to guys who aren't making an impact on the field. So, while these social media numbers are important, once any of these commits start making plays and hearing their name called on ESPN, their followings will rocket.

I will say that there's a lot to like about Kaden Saunders from a marketing standpoint. I spent the day with him in Atlanta this summer and I left there learning that he's very popular among his peers. Saunders has a really fun personality. As long as he reaches his potential, and I very much expect him to do that, I think there's a lot for companies to work with there. He'd be my top pick. But again, take care of business on the field and the opportunities will come. That's more important than anything else.


Instagram

1) Cristian Driver - 48.7k

2) Keon Wylie - 11.2k

3) Kaden Saunders - 11.1k

4) Mehki Flowers - 9,681

5) Kaytron Allen - 8,579

6) Drew Allar - 8,576

7) Ken Talley - 7,770

8) KJ Winston - 6,653

9) Jordan Allen - 6,602

10) Nick Singleton - 6,270


Twitter

1) Cristian Driver - 6,639

2) Kaden Saunders - 5,481

3) Mehki Flowers - 5,231

4) Jordan Allen - 4,867

5) Drew Allar - 4,289

6) Ken Talley - 4,212

7) Dani Dennis-Sutton - 3,835

8) Jerry Cross - 3,668

9) Kaytron Allen - 3,628

10) Nick Singleton - 3,523

- How about the percentage of current 2022 verbal commits who actually plan to attend the white out, especially out-of-state commits? CB Jordan Allen has indicated his plans via twitter, but the 3 verbal commits from Florida come to mind as being among those who haven't posted such intention on social media (and since all 3 have already used their OV's it may make travel more difficult)? Whatever you can share concerning current verbal commits is fine; no worries if your response is that the info is premium content. @Shadow99

I don't mind sharing the list of committed players planning to attend.

Right now, I'm expecting 21 of the 24 Class of 2022 commits to be in attendance, as well as Alex Birchmeier. That list includes all three Florida commits: Kaytron Allen, Zane Durant and Cam Miller.

The three players I don't expect to be here are Cristian Driver, as well as the two Lackawanna players, Tyrece Mills and JB Nelson. Lackawanna has a game in North Carolina Saturday afternoon. Both players did visit last week for Ball State, however.

For the majority of the commits, this will be their first opportunity to see the White Out at Penn State up close, although a handful of them did attend the 2019 game against Michigan.

That list includes Abdul Carter, Mehki Flowers, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Anthony Ivey, Kaden Saunders, Nick Singleton, and Ken Talley.

Here are the 21 commits expected to attend:

QB Drew Allar - Medina, Ohio - Medina

CB Jordan Allen - Lafayette, La. - Lafayette Christian (Official Visit)

RB Kaytron Allen - Bradenton, Fla. - IMG Academy

DT Kaleb Artis - Queens, N.Y. - St. Francis Prep

K Alex Bacchetta - Atlanta, Ga. - Westminster

LB Abdul Carter - Philadelphia, Pa. - La Salle

TE Jerry Cross - Milwaukee, Wisc. - Rufus King

DE Dani Dennis-Sutton - Owings Mills, Md. - McDonogh

DT Zane Durant - Orlando, Fla. - Lake Nona

Ath. Mehki Flowers - Harrisburg, Pa. - Central Dauphin East

WR Anthony Ivey - Manheim, Pa. - Manheim Twp.

WR Tyler Johnson - Ridgeway, Va. - Magna Vista

OL Maleek McNeil - Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. - Walter Panas

CB Cam Miller - Jacksonville, Fla. - Trinity Christian

QB Beau Pribula - York, Pa. - Central York

WR Kaden Saunders - Westerville, Ohio - Westerville South

OL Drew Shelton - Dowingtown, Pa. - Downingtown West

RB Nick Singleton - Shillington, Pa. - Governor Mifflin

DE Ken Talley - Philadelphia, Pa. - Northeast

Saf. KJ Winston - Hyattsville, Md. - DeMatha

LB Keon Wylie - Philadelphia, Pa. - Imhotep Charter


OL Alex Birchmeier - Ashburn, Va. - Broad Run (2023)


*******

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