Recruiting Mailbag: What's Next for Penn State's Class of 2022?

Penn State picked up a surprise commitment Thursday evening when offensive lineman Andre Roye tweeted that he was ending his recruitment to join the Nittany Lions' Class of 2022.

Roye's recruitment was one of the quietest I've ever seen. A ton of players chose to not speak with the media. That's fine. All the calls from coaches can be a lot, so I get that, but Roye was also very quiet with the coaches recruiting him as well. James Franklin not tweeting out "We Are...Better" shortly after wasn't because Penn State wasn't prepared to take him, but rather because he and the entire staff hadn't yet spoken with Roye.

But make no mistake, Penn State is happy to land the St. Frances prospect. You can expect Mike Locksley and the staff at Maryland to continue recruiting him, but will they be able to get in touch with him? Only time will tell.

So, what does that mean for Penn State moving forward? We'll talk about that below, but first, please be sure to check out our sponsor, JFQ Lending, for all of your lending needs, including great refinancing rates.

One thing that's important for fans to remember is that Penn State's Class of 2022 is really at 26 commitments because you have to include Harvard offensive lineman Spencer Rolland, who announced back in July that he plans to transfer to Penn State after he graduates.

Now, Penn State has been backdating early enrollees for years now, and this is the year they plan to "cash in" on some of the wiggle room. They were always going to go over that 25 commitment number, but keeping under the 85 scholarship limit is now the real hurdle. That's why this new rule that @Jkauff55 is referring to won't have a big impact on Penn State this year.

It would likely require more attrition than normal at the end of the year for that rule to have a real impact. Maybe they can get one more commitment out of it than they originally planned, but for the most part, I don't see it having a big impact on PSU.

So, how many more can they take? Well, it's really hard to answer when you don't know who's thinking about transferring at the end of the year. Even Penn State's staff would tell you that it's hard to give a true number at the moment. With that said, if you look back on previous years and use the average number of players who leave, I get the impression that the staff could potentially add two more players and somehow make it work in the end.

So, with all that in mind, I feel like somewhere around 28 is the number here. Anything higher than that I think Franklin and his staff could find themselves in a tough spot at the end of the season. It's a great problem to have, but only once we know who all plans to leave at the end of the year will they be able to figure out the actual number.

From a relationship perspective, Penn State finds themselves in a very good spot. One thing many fans may not know about Larry Turner-Gooden is that he participated in LaVar Arrington's eighth grade all-star game in Beaver Stadium back in April 2018. Penn State actually extended an offer to him in Feb. 2019, and he was pretty active at a young age in regards to reaching out to coaches to build a relationship.

That gave Terry Smith an opportunity to get a foot in the door with Turner-Gooden pretty early in the process. If you remove Arizona State defensive back coach Chris Hawkins from the picture - Turner-Gooden plays for a 7-on-7 team that's ran by Hawkins' father - I get the impression that Smith and Penn State may have the best relationship with Turner-Gooden of any of his remaining top schools.

“Me and Coach Terry have been talking since the eighth grade,” Turner-Gooden said in an interview I did with him earlier this week. “We’ve stayed in contact for a long time and he stayed on me even since after I committed. I’ve been planning this visit for awhile. Really, we’ve been talking about it since covid, so I always planned to get down there. Our relationship is good and I got to experience all the things he was telling me about. Everything lived up to it.”

Relationships don't always equal commitments though, especially when that school is on the other side of the country. We know Texas is very much in the mix. He'll take an official visit to Austin in a few weeks. USC is interested in getting him on campus for an official visit, too, but of course, everything is about to change with that staff following Clay Helton's release. I do have to learn more about his relationship with LSU, another school he may visit, but it's clear here that Penn State has put themselves in a very good position with the California native.

Another potential issue will probably end up being when does he want to decide?

Every commitment for Penn State from here on out impacts the other players who are still interested, regardless of position. I think if Turner-Gooden wanted to recommit within the next month or so, Penn State could absolutely take him, but if he takes that Texas official, then goes to another school or two, there's also a real chance that Penn State's class will be full.

As of now, I expect at least nine of Penn State's committed players to enroll early. That list includes...

QB Drew Allar

QB Beau Pribula

RB Nick Singleton

WR Kaden Saunders

TE Jerry Cross

OL JB Nelson

OL Drew Shelton

DT Zane Durant

CB Cam Miller

I will add that I've been told that RB Kaytron Allen is a possibility, although I haven't confirmed that with Allen personally. So, for now, I'm sticking with nine listed above.

Penn State has a ton of momentum coming out of last weekend. I've heard some rumblings that a few players in the 2023 class could be getting close to committing in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some additions to that class in the coming weeks.

I'll leave it at that. I know, what a tease.

I don't see Beau Pribula or Drew Allar signing anywhere other than Penn State.

Pribula has been rock solid with his commitment throughout not only a major coaching change - he was very close with Kirk Ciarrocca - but also the decision to add another quarterback in this class. He had two opportunities earlier this year to possibly reconsider and he never wavered. I don't see anything coming in the months ahead that would give him a reason to pump the breaks. He's one of the leaders in this class and has been from the very start. He's a Nittany Lion through and through.

Of course, Ohio State has now offered Allar, but I've seen nothing that would make me think he's even going to visit Ohio State, let alone potentially flip his commitment. Last week, Allar and his family had a blast at the White Out game. I spoke with the family about it briefly and I know that atmosphere surpassed their expectations, which, after hearing about it for almost a year, were pretty high to begin with.

But also, the majority of top programs already have a quarterback committed. Almost every four or five-star quarterback has already committed. Out of the 45 quarterbacks who are ranked currently, only four of them remain uncommitted at the moment. I'm sure a few schools will look to poach if they think they can upgrade, but the 2022 quarterback market is pretty much settled at this point.

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