Nation's top DT prospect Jason Moore recaps Penn State White Out experience
Penn State has a very strong history with DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. Since James Franklin took over the program, the Nittany Lions have signed four players from the school. They also currently hold a verbal commitment from safety KJ Winston.
On top of that, they’ve offered scholarships to 18 DeMatha prospects since 2014, making this one of the more important high school programs for Franklin and his staff. Now, one of the highest-ranked players over that period can be found in DeMatha’s Class of 2023 in defensive lineman Jason Moore.
Checking in at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, Moore is not only the top-ranked defensive tackle for his class, but he also ranks 32nd-overall nationally, which means there’s a real chance he could end up being a five-star prospect by the time it’s all said and done. That also makes him the highest-ranked prospect from DeMatha since defensive end Chase Young in the Class of 2017. We all know how good he turned out to be.
Originally a basketball player, Moore didn’t completely shift his focus to football until this season. However, he’s held an offer from the Nittany Lions since November 2019. Penn State was actually the second school to offer, following only Maryland. With that said, Moore had never actually been to State College until this past Saturday.
“I got up pretty early, so I got to walk around before the game,” Moore said. “I didn’t just see the stadium area, but also a little bit of campus. I got to get a feel for that. I did see a lot of the area around Beaver Stadium, too. I liked it all a lot.”
Although he had never visited previously, Moore has been active in building a relationship with the staff. Unlike many in the Class of 2023, Moore was actively speaking with members of Penn State’s staff well before September 1, which is when coaches were allowed to initiate conversations. Moore said he went out of his way to get to know PSU’s staff, most notably defensive line coaches John Scott and Deion Barnes, throughout much of the past year.
“We’ve been in contact with each other well before September 1st.,” Moore said. “I’ve spoken with a lot of their coaches. A lot of the coaches on their staff are showing love. I’d say Coach Scott and Coach Barnes, they’re in touch a lot. But also, I hear a lot from their recruiting guys and I’ve been on the phone with Coach Franklin multiple times, too.”
He went on to add, “I would say they talk about personal life and things like that more [than other schools]. We obviously talk about football and Penn State a lot, too, but a lot of those talks are just about how life is going, checking on me and the family. That’s what I like most.”
But with Saturday being his first visit, it was the first time he was actually able to meet the staff in person.
“They were all excited to see me,” Moore said. “They’ve been trying to get me up there for the longest time. So, everyone was really happy I made it. They seemed genuinely excited. A lot of people came over, said hello and introduced themselves.”
Moore has been to a game at Maryland before, making Saturday’s White Out against Auburn the second college game he’s ever seen. As expected, he was beyond impressed.
“It was crazy. I have never experienced anything like it,” Moore said. “Their fans were showing love the entire day. They kept telling me to commit. That was kind of crazy to me. But that whole atmosphere, even before the game, all around Beaver Stadium, they were going nuts the whole time. Then, during the game, of course, they’re really into it. They have a lot of fun.”
In addition to Penn State, Moore said that LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame and USC are the schools contacting him the most at this stage in the process. He said he doesn’t have anything scheduled currently, but did note that he’s working to visit Notre Dame at some point in the weeks ahead.
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