Penn State's early enrollee count continues to grow

Penn State was already set to host its largest group of early enrollees come January. Now, that number has grown to at least eight.

On Wednesday, tight end Brenton Strange confirmed to BWI that he will join the seven other prospects that already plan to be on campus at the start of the spring semester.

Back in September, when Strange committed, he confirmed that he and tight end coach Tyler Bowen had discussed the possibility of him enrolling early. Following discussions with the officials at Parkersburg High School, that plan is now set.

Strange is set to join future Penn State quarterbacks Michael Johnson Jr. and Ta’Quan Roberson. The only other offensive player is wide receiver Emery Simmons. The four defensive players that plan to enroll early are linebacker Brandon Smith, as well as defensive backs Keaton Ellis, Tyler Rudolph and Marquis Wilson.

The Nittany Lions could very well add to that number before the early signing period. According to contacts, another future Penn State player, linebacker Lance Dixon, is also either close to finalizing those plans or already has. As of Wednesday afternoon, we had yet to confirm those details with Dixon, but hope to reach him this evening.

(UPDATE: Dixon confirmed Wednesday evening that he plans to enroll early. "Yeah, it'll all be finalized soon when they receive my test scores," he said.)

In addition to the committed players, two of the staff's top remaining targets, running back Noah Cain and defensive end Adisa Isaac, also plan to enroll early at the school of their choice.