Penn State Football and James Franklin are off to a hot start in the 2024 recruiting cycle, currently possessing the No. 6 rated class in the nation with 13 commits on board.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a top seven class in 2022 and the No. 13 class in 2023. Keeping this recruiting momentum going in the 2024 cycle will be critical for a program looking to take the step from great to elite.
Currently holding the No. 6 spot is nothing to brush off, but there’s still over seven months until the early signing period opens, a lot will happen in the recruiting world before then.
So, the question becomes, can Penn State Football maintain this top 10 class throughout the entire cycle?
Last year, Tennessee had the No. 10 spot in the 247 Sports rankings with a 276.51 class score. Each cycle differs in terms of the minimum points needed for a top 10 class, but this is the total we will use as a baseline.
The Nittany Lions currently have 210.99 points with 13 commits in the 2024 class, which is a terrific start. The goal is to now find a realistic path that will get Penn State to 277 points. Using the class calculator on 247 Sports, we can do just that.
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Where Penn State Football Recruiting Goes from Here
Penn State Football likely has room for 10-13 more commits in this class, although there could be more room in the future as there is no longer a 25 scholarship per class limit, the team itself just cannot succeed 85 scholarship players.
Even in a best-case scenario for Penn State, the Nittany Lions just reach the threshold held by Tennessee in the 2023 cycle.
By adding 11 4-stars, Penn State gets to 276.16 points. The group of 4-stars added includes DL Benedict Umeh, ATH Liam Andrews, WR Nick Marsh, LB Jamonta Waller, OL William Satterwhite, ATH Josiah Brown, OT Kevin Heywood, CB Jameer Grimsley, S Dejuan Lane, DE Mylachi Williams and DE Jaylen Harvey.
This is, as just mentioned, a dream scenario for the Nittany Lions.
While Penn State is in the thick of it for all 11 of these guys, the reality is that they will likely not land all of them. Landing six or seven from this group would be a success.
This group also does not include a quarterback, something Penn State needs to figure out with top target Michael Van Buren looking destined to end up at Oregon.
On the flip side, there’s also the chance that a few of the current 3-stars already committed to Penn State move up to 4-star status by the time the cycle ends. Some candidates for that include TE Luke Reynolds and CB Antoine Belgrave-Shorter. That will increase the class’s score as well.
The June official visit window will give us a better idea of what this class may end up looking like for Penn State. Many recruits make July and August decisions after visiting their top schools in June, that will likely be the case again this year.
If the Nittany Lions crush the official visits with their top targets, there’s a very good chance that this class could end up staying in the top 10. That remains to be seen for the time being though.
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