Looking back at previous five-star commitments to Penn State football
In defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, the Penn State football program added a Rivals five-star verbal commitment for only the 10th time in the modern era of recruiting rankings.
A trip down the memory lane of the Rivals recruiting rankings isn't quite so long in the context of Penn State football's storied history dating to its 1887 inception.
Rather, with the advent of five-star ratings and rankings occurring on the internet beginning with the Class of 2002, a look back at the Nittany Lions' former blockbuster verbal commitments spans just 20 years.
Even in that time, though, Penn State has had mixed success attracting some of the nation's top football recruits, building on its cache with Thursday afternoon's verbal commitment of Rivals five-star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton. The McDonogh School product, standing 6-foot-5, 253 pounds, ranks No. 11 overall in the Rivals Class of 2022 and No. 1 at his position as the beginning of his senior season approaches.
Who else has Penn State landed with Rivals' five-star status over the past 20 years? Here's a look back:
Class of 2004: Anthony Morelli - Dan Connor
Penn State's first-ever five-star commitment of the internet recruiting era, linebacker Dan Connor, lived up to his billing as a Nittany Lion.
The Strath Haven product's photograph still sits prominently in the Penn State record books for his standout performance spanning a four-year career with the program. His 419 tackles (227 solo, 192 assisted) rank No. 1 all-time for career tackles at Penn State and in 2007, he capped his career with a team-high 145 tackles, a number that checks in at second all-time behind only Greg Buttle's 165 stops during the 1974 season.
The Nittany Lions weren't finished landing five-stars with Connor's commitment, though. In quarterback Anthony Morelli, Penn State picked up a second prospect with the elite designation in February 2004 out of Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh.
Morelli's career with the Nittany Lions wasn't as illustrious as Connor's, but the passer did produce 5,275 yards, completing 460 of his 821 passing attempts for 31 touchdowns with 19 interceptions during his career. The ninth-most passing yards in school history, Morelli's most productive season arrived in his senior campaign in 2007 in which he threw for 2,651 yards, which also checks in ninth for single-season passing yardage.
Class of 2005: Justin King - Derrick Williams
Penn State wasted no time in following its first five-star commitments, landed during a tough stretch of football for the program, no less, by picking up a celebrated pair of five-stars in Justin King and Derrick Williams in the Class of 2005.
Committing first to the program in November 2004, King was considered the No. 1 cornerback nationally and the top cornerback in the class, landing him status as the No. 19-overall prospect. Upon arriving to Penn State, the former Gateway High School standout made an immediate impact during the Nittany Lions' resurgence in its 12-1, Orange Bowl-winning 2005 season, playing on both offense and defense. In two more seasons at Penn State, King settled in as a corner for the Nittany Lions before declaring for the NFL Draft as a junior, earning a fourth-round selection by the St. Louis Rams.
Just one month after King's commitment to Penn State, the No. 1-ranked overall recruit in the Class of 2005 also landed with the Nittany Lions in athlete Derrick Williams. Rated the No. 1 athlete and top prospect out of Maryland, Williams committed to Penn State two days before Christmas.
Like King, Williams burst onto the scene with the Nittany Lions as a true freshman in 2005, appearing all over the field offensively, primarily as a receiver, before breaking his arm midway through the turnaround season for the program. Williams remains as one of Penn State's all-time most productive offensive players, checking in at seventh on the career all-purpose yardage list with 594 yards rushing, 1,743 yards as a receiver and another 1,819 yards as a returner.
Class of 2006: AJ Wallace
Penn State's run of five-star commitments in the first decade of the new century would finish with corner A.J. Wallace in the star-studded Class of 2006, which ranked sixth nationally coming off the program's excellent 2005 season. A U.S. Army All-American, Wallace was the top corner in the class and the No. 1 prospect out of Maryland, landing at No. 19-overall in the Class of 2006.
Wallace made an impact immediately in all three phases of the game, making the most of eight rushing attempts with a 19.1 yards per carry average while also appearing on defense and special teams. Ultimately settling in both defensively as well as on special teams as a kickoff return man, checking in at No. 13 with his 24.0 yards per return average over 47 attempts for 1,128 yards and a touchdown, Wallace appeared as a backup corner behind Lydell Sargeant as a sophomore and junior before earning the starting nod in his senior year in 2009.
Wallace finished his career with 95 total tackles and three interceptions.
Class of 2013: Christian Hackenberg
In the midst of the program's crisis surrounding the Jerry Sandusky scandal, with scholarships limited by NCAA sanctions, Penn State landed its first five-star in seven years when quarterback Christian Hackenberg pledged - and maintained - his commitment to coach Bill O'Brien.
A standout at Fork Union Military Academy, Hackenberg was the No. 24-ranked player overall in the Class of 2013, the No. 2 pro-style quarterback and the third-ranked prospect to hail from Virginia that year. Starting immediately as a true freshman, Hackenberg helped guide the Nittany Lions to a 7-5 record in 2013 and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year for the effort. His 2,955 yards passing remain a freshman record at Penn State.
In two successive seasons after, Hackenberg struggled to maintain his freshman performance as the program continued to feel the effects of sanctions across the board, but his production in three years was still enough to place him near the top of Penn State's all-time passing chart. Finishing with 693 completions on 1,235 attempts with 48 touchdowns and 31 interceptions, Hackenberg's 8,457 yards passing are second only to Trace McSorley.
Class of 2017: Lamont Wade
The first five-star commitment of the James Franklin era at Penn State, defensive back Lamont Wade checked in at 11th nationally in the Class of 2017 as the No. 1-overall corner and top prospect out of Pennsylvania.
Wade played on special teams and defense all four years of his career, appearing as a backup during the 2017 and 2018 seasons before earning a spot as a starter at safety as a junior and senior in 2019 and 2020, respectively. For his career, he finished with 153 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, and an interception in 47 games played. He also forced four fumbles and had 11 passes defended as a Nittany Lion before being picked up as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason.
Class of 2018: Micah Parsons - Justin Shorter
Franklin followed the five-star commitment of Wade with a pair of five-stars in receiver Justin Shorter and linebacker Micah Parsons in the Class of 2018. Neither career would continue past their sophomore seasons at Penn State, for differing reasons, though.
In two seasons with the Nittany Lions, Shorter failed to latch on as a true or redshirt freshman in the 2018 or '19 seasons, respectively. Taking a redshirt in '18, Shorter was able to appear in four games before a sophomore season that saw him play throughout, but start in just three before announcing an offseason transfer to Florida. As a Nittany Lion, he finished with 15 total catches for 157 yards with no touchdowns.
Parsons, meanwhile, appeared in two seasons before the COVID-19 pandemic upended his trajectory as a Nittany Lion as it neared an apex. Appearing as a backup as a true freshman, Parsons led the program in tackles in 2018 and earned multiple postseason all-Big Ten and All-America freshman designations for the effort. Then as a sophomore, he broke out particularly in the second half of the season while earning Consensus All-American status, finishing with 109 tackles including 14 TFL and five sacks.
Poised to return for a highly anticipated junior season, also expected to be his last as a Nittany Lion before turning pro, the uncertainty of the 2020 season led Parsons to opt out and train privately ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft last August.
*******
• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated
• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98, @GregPickel, @ThomasFrankCarr
• Follow us on Instagram
• Like us on Facebook