Lions off to an excellent start with New Jersey safety Kahlil Ali
Penn State hosted New Jersey native Kahlil Ali for his second unofficial visit in the past two weeks Saturday.
Like so many other top prospects across the region, the Pennsauken native made the three-and-a-half-hour drive to State College back on Sept. 18 for the game against Auburn, only to do it again Saturday for another primetime game against the Indiana Hoosiers.
In addition to the atmosphere inside Beaver Stadium, Ali made it clear that the success he’s seen from the team to start the season has caught his eye. This past weekend’s trip likely only strengthened the staff’s chances with the 6-foot-1, 180-pound safety prospect.
“That Auburn game was my first time seeing a game there. It’s incredible,” Ali said. “I’ve gotten a lot out of those visits, and I’ve had fun with them, too, but the experience has been very helpful. Having 110k up there, at both games, you see how crazy it gets in there. It feels like home there for me. Between the fans, the atmosphere, the coaching staff, they have a really good mix of everything with their program.”
In addition to the visits this month, Ali has been speaking with different members of the coaching staff roughly every other day since the start of September.
“Everything is really cool with the relationship with them. It feels like home actually at Penn State,” Ali said. “I’ve been talking to Coach Terry [Smith], Coach [Anthony] Poindexter and Coach [James] Franklin probably two or three times a week, and it’s not just the coaches, but also a bunch of people on the [recruiting] staff. I’ve just been feeling all the love that Penn State shows me. I really like everyone there.”
Back in June, Ali took unofficial visits to both Temple and West Virginia. He also took two trips to Penn State, giving him four total visits to University Park since the end of the 15-month pandemic dead period.
Moving forward, Ali has one visit scheduled currently to check out Boston College on October 16, adding that it’s likely he returns to State College for the game against Michigan next month.
“I’m really just trying to narrow down the list more, finding where’s home,” Ali said. “But I am thinking about making a decision kind of soon. Not like next week or anything, but maybe in the fall some time.”
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