Recruiting: Recapping June & Looking Ahead to July

June is usually one of the busiest months on the recruiting calendar.

Between on-campus and satellite camps, James Franklin and the assistant coaches are used to spending the first three weeks of the month evaluating a few thousand high school athletes up and down the East Coast. They also host dozens of prospects for visits - both officially and unofficially - before the annual summer dead period begins at the end of month.

But like most of 2020, June was anything but normal. It wasn’t until a week ago, June 22, that members of the football program were allowed inside the Lasch Building, and even then, only coaches, strength staff and graduate assistants were allowed in. All remaining staff, including those in the recruiting department, are still working from home.

Speaking of abnormal, Penn State isn't known as a school that picks up commitments from underclassmen, but that happened back on June 8 when Mathias Barnwell, a 6-foot-5, 240 pound tight end in the Class of 2023, announced his decision to join the Nittany Lions. The 15-year-old from Spotsylvania, Va., is the youngest player to commit in program history.

After earning two Division I scholarship offers before ever playing high school football, Penn State joined 13 other schools in offering Barnwell during or after his freshman season. He visited University Park twice, attending the White Out against Michigan in October and also the final junior day that Penn State held (Feb. 1) before in-person recruiting was shutdown.

"It's Big Ten football," Barnwell said, following his commitment. "It's also close to home and one of the most competitive programs in the entire country. Penn State also has one of the best atmospheres in the entire country. When you have all of that, plus it's not hard for my friends and family to travel there and come support me, it makes it a great fit for me."

In regards to the Class of 2021, however, the momentum that Penn State built through April and early May has gone away. Normally, having just 12 commitments at the start of July would feel as if the class is behind schedule, but it’s important to remember that the 2021 class is expected to be the smallest since 2016, when Penn State signed 20 players. As of now, that’s the same number that we project for this class.

But when you also account for the limited information that schools have been able to collect - not to mention, it's still unclear if coaches will be allowed to evaluate prospects in the fall - it actually works in Penn State's favor to have such a small class this year. Signing 17 or 18 players and potentially rolling over a scholarship or two to next year's class could be a real possibility.

One thing that did become clear in June is that there's work to be done at the wide receiver position. With Liam Clifford and Lonnie White Jr. firmly committed, it's not an emergency situation, as both are expected to start their careers at that position. With that said, they're also viewed as athletes that could potentially fill other roles, so signing one or two true wide receiver prospects remains important.

The staff missed out on their top remaining target on June 6 when Maryland native Kaden Prather announced his commitment to West Virginia. The Nittany Lions also missed out on Baltimore prospect Dont’e Thornton, who left Penn State out of his top six at the end of May. That’s forced the coaches to extend more scholarship offers at the position throughout the spring and into June. Three players that we know they'd love to host for a visit at some point are Jaden Alexis, from Coconut Creek, Fla., Umari Hatcher, from Woodbridge, Va., and Dominic Lovett from East St. Louis, Ill.

“Penn State, they have an unconditional love for their new recruits,” Lovett told Rivals analyst Josh Helmholdt shortly after he was offered. “Since I am a new recruit, that caught my eye when they started to recruit me. They just showed me love as if I was already a player there.”

Alexis has also had good things to say about the staff.

“Coach Franklin is one of those coaches that I’ve paid attention to all the way back to his time at Vanderbilt,” he said. “He’s a very genuine coach. I really appreciate his energy towards recruiting and how much he wants his players and the family of those players to be comfortable with it all.”

Just the idea of hosting high school athletes for visits has been another popular topic in recent weeks. It was announced at the end of May that the dead period would be extended through the end of July, and that was extended another month just last week. The extension through August wasn’t a major surprise. Not only has COVD-19 increased throughout the south, but August has been a dead period for the past few years. That was expected to come.

However, sources close to the football program have hinted to Blue White Illustrated that there’s serious concern that recruits won’t be able to take visits at all this season. Now that players are back on campus, schools across the country are learning just how difficult it is to keep everyone associated with the program from testing positive. Financially, football has to be played this fall, and hosting recruits from all over the country is a risk that they could eliminate. Expect an announcement regarding September at the end of July or in the beginning of August.

Because of all the uncertainty regarding visits, many of Penn State’s top remaining prospects have made it clear that they’re in no rush to make a decision. Safety Derrick Davis Jr., from Monroeville, Pa., offensive lineman Nolan Rucci, from Lititz, Pa., and junior college cornerback De’Jahn Warren, from Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., all reiterated in June that they want to take official visits before taking that next step. Of those three, Rucci and Davis have visited at least a few of their top remaining schools. Warren has only been able to visit Penn State, making additional visits very important for him. Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee have all joined the Nittany Lions in lining up official visits already, but again, will they take place? Only time will tell.

There are at least two players to keep an eye on for a commitment in July. Linebacker Jamari Buddin, from Belleville, Mich., is expected to release a date for his announcement in the near future. He’s already shot a video for his decision and should have his recruitment wrapped up around the middle of the month. Penn State, Michigan State and Minnesota are believed to be the schools at the top of his list. He should end up at one of the Big Ten East schools.

Wide receiver Andrel Anthony, from East Lansing, Mich., is also getting closer to a commitment. At one point, it felt as if the Nittany Lions may have been the team to beat, but it also became clear in May that Franklin and his assistants had cooled on Anthony, focusing their attention on other wide receivers. Now that Prather and Thornton are no longer in the mix, Anthony is someone to monitor, although most expect him to stay home and play for Michigan State.

One other major development that took place in June was Penn State’s announcement of a virtual combine to help the staff evaluate players. With no camps, prospects across the country have been posting photos and videos on social media of themselves doing different drills, as well as providing valuable measurements. The problem is that many of those weren’t able to be verified by schools.

To fix this, Director of Player Personnel Andy Frank and other members of the staff released a nearly 40-minute video on YouTube to help players and coaches do those workouts in a way that can be verified. The video, which was accompanied by written instructions and its own Twitter page, was released back on June 9.

According to sources, Penn State has received positive feedback so far, including information on some of its top prospects in the Class of 2022 & 2023. The staff has also done a good job getting this in the hands of coaches at many of the region’s top high schools. Because of that, sources have told BWI that the coaching staff expects to see an influx in information come July and August, which is when many teams in the Mid-Atlantic region plan to resume workouts.

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