Penn State Football Kicks Off Fall Camp with 2 Commitments, Surprising Suspensions

Penn State football opened fall camp Wednesday, one month ahead of its season opener against West Virginia in Morgantown.

This was the opportunity to see players back on the field for the first time since April. Wednesday, however, provided plenty of excitement off the field in addition to the excitement of seeing players back on the field for Penn State.

Penn State saw two recruits commit to the Nittany Lions recruiting classes Wednesday, as well as the announcement of two interim suspensions for defensive players.

Here’s everything you may have missed on a wild opening day of Penn State Football fall camp.

Commitments

Yvan Kemajou

Just before 2 pm Wednesday, James Franklin tweeted out his usual “#WeAre…Better” tweet to announce the first commitment of the day, defensive lineman Yvan Kemajou.

BREAKING: Four star DL Yvan Kemajou (@Yvan_Kemajou) (‘25) has committed to Penn State, he tells me. 🦁

He chose Penn State over schools such as, Rutgers, VTech, and Indiana.

Yvan is a top 20 DL in the COUNTRY and a top 10 PLAYER in the state of Maryland. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/ZmvpF1QIYO

— Leyton Roberts (@LeytonRoberts_) July 31, 2024

Kemajou is a composite three-star prospect out of Maryland in the 2025 class, the number 435 prospect in the nation, and the number 49 overall interior defensive lineman. With fellow defensive lineman Max Granville’s reclassification last week, Kemajou is the 22nd prospect committed to Penn State’s 2025 class, which ranks 16^th in the nation after Kemajou’s commitment.

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Daniel Jennings

A few hours after Kemajou’s commitment, Penn State Football received a second commitment Wednesday from Daniel Jennings out of West Virginia. Jennings is a composite four-star defensive edge prospect that ranks 271 in the nation and second in the state of West Virginia.

Jennings ranks as the number twenty two defensive edge prospect in the 2026 class. His commitment brings the Nittany Lions to five overall commits in the 2026 class that ranks second in the nation early in the cycle.

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Suspensions

While Penn State got some great news in the form of two commitments Wednesday, everything was not sunshine and rainbows for the Nittany Lions opening camp.

Instead, Penn State announced via a spokesperson that both sophomore defensive end Jameial Lyons and redshirt freshman Kaveion Keys were on interim suspension from the team “to deal with a personal matter.” Penn State announced it will have no further comment on the matter and there is no timetable for a return to the team, if any.

The loss of Lyons is massive for the Nittany Lions on the field, as the sophomore showed major flashes of potential in limited action. With fellow defensive end Zuriah Fisher out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury, Lyons was expected to play a large role on the defense as the third defensive end behind presumed starters Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton.

Keys was the Nittany Lions Developmental Squad Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and was expected to take a step forward, while not cracking the starting lineup, in 2024. It remains to be seen when or whether either player will be back with the program this fall or beyond.

With a full fall camp to go, Penn State will have the opportunity to determine how to replace Lyons and Keys on the field as the Nittany Lions creep closer to their week one opener exactly one month from today.

MORE: Two Nittany Lions Stars Named to National Award Watch Lists

 

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