The Postseason SI99 Rankings Illustrate Penn State's Recruiting Climb

Alabama and Ohio State have signed 22 players from SI All-American's list of the top 2021 recruits. Penn State looks to join that club.

According to SI All-American's postseason list of the top 2021 recruits, the rich got richer. That illustrates the headwind into which Penn State must recruit to join the club.

Alabama and Ohio State, which met in the national-championship game, have combined to sign 22 players (11 each) so far from the postseason SI99. Ohio State has three of the top six, while Alabama has four of the top 11.

Not surprisingly, Alabama and Ohio State are 1-2 in SI All-American's ranking of the top 2021 classes. Though unranked, Penn State's 2021 class includes a strong group of players, notably offensive lineman Landon Tengwall and receivers Liam Clifford (an SI honorable mention All-American) and Lonnie White, Jr. 

Still, Penn State missed on the nation's top-ranked talent in this cycle, including a promising group from Pennsylvania. Six in-state players made the postseason SI99, none of whom is headed to Penn State. Two players have signed with Ohio State.

• 28. Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. St. Joseph's Prep (Clemson)

• 40. Receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr., St. Joseph's Prep (Ohio State)

• 43. Defensive end Elijah Jeudy, Northeast (Texas A&M)

• 54. Quarterback Kyle McCord, St. Joseph's Prep (Ohio State)

• 81. Safety Derrick Davis, Jr., Gateway (LSU)

• 83. Defensive lineman Elliot Donald, Pittsburgh Central Catholic (Pitt)

On the Early Signing Day in December, several Penn State staff members said they had a plan to refresh the program's in-state recruiting process. Andy Frank, Penn State's director of player personnel, said coaches were "saturating the state" for future classes.

And Terry Smith, cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator, said Penn State had to make a "conscious effort" to be more visible at high-profile schools like St. Joseph's Prep.

"Obviously, we’ve had some really top-end kids that have gotten out of the state. We can’t allow that to happen," Frank said. "We’ve got to look at each of those cases individually and figure in the future, OK, with a similar type of kid, what is it about his recruitment that’s going to make him pick Penn State or pick somewhere else? And analyze how it’s played out in the past and what we want to do in the future."

That does appear to be producing returns for Penn State. The recruiting site 247Sports ranks the 2022 class at No. 3 nationally. The program has eight players committed, all 4-star prospects, including five from Pennsylvania.

One of those committed players, tight end Jerry Cross from Wisconsin, predicted the class would get even better.

By the time we’re done this honestly might be the best PSU class.

— Jerry Cross (@thejerrycross) January 15, 2021

Read More

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Penn State recalibrates its approach to Pennsylvania recruiting

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