Penn State’s season opener did more than light up the scoreboard. It turned Beaver Stadium into a recruiting showcase.
Matt Campbell’s first game in Happy Valley drew a deep list of prospects across multiple classes, from 2027 all the way to 2029, as Penn State kept working the future while the current team handled Marshall. Some of the visitors were already committed.
Others were seeing the place for the first time. All of them got a look at the Stripe Out crowd and the program’s pitch up close.
The most familiar faces came from Penn State’s committed group. Cornerbacks Kei’Shjuan Telfair and Ka’ron Ceaser, safety Caleb Cooper and offensive lineman Ryan Robbins were all on hand, and all four are part of the Nittany Lions’ 2027 class. That group is currently ranked No. 24 nationally by 247Sports Composite.
The 2028 class also had some early Penn State ties represented in the building. Quarterback James Armstrong and cornerback Deonte Flemings Jr., both in-state prospects, made the trip as committed recruits.
Flemings is expected to take other visits during the season, but he remains solid in his pledge to Penn State. Even this early in the cycle, the 2028 group sits No. 3 in the country behind Alabama and Ohio State.
Penn State is clearly not waiting around with 2028 recruiting. The staff is already pressing hard for talent in that class, and some of the biggest names in the country were in town for Week 1.
The headliner was 5-star cornerback Nasir Richardson, the top corner in the class. Richardson came in from Newark, New Jersey, and is part of a growing New Jersey pipeline for Penn State, which currently has more players from that state committed than from Pennsylvania in the 2027 class.
Richardson is ranked No. 11 overall in the country and is the top player in New Jersey entering his junior season. Penn State offered him on Jan. 31, but the 6-foot cornerback has a national offer sheet, including six Big Ten offers that arrived in the first half of May.
Richardson wasn’t the only 2028 visitor from outside the state. Wide receiver Ketih Nolen Jr. and defensive back Lawrence Diggs, both 3-stars from the DMV area, were also in attendance. That region has taken a big hit for Penn State since the departure of Ty Howle, who followed James Franklin to Virginia Tech.
Another 2028 name to know was 3-star running back Juelz Chiron-Robinson, who came up from the Philadelphia area after receiving a Penn State offer on June 20. The Downingtown East product already has a return visit lined up for the White Out game against USC on Oct. 10, and he could become one of the early running back targets in the class.
Penn State also had two notable 2029 visitors on hand for the 45-0 win over Marshall. One was 247Sports 4-star edge rusher DJ Dockery, who traveled from Washington D.C. The Nittany Lions have some familiarity there, too, with former offensive tackle Olu Fashanu and current freshman running back Jeremy Washington both alumni of Gonzaga College High School in the nation’s capital.
The other 2029 visitor was linebacker Bam Pelzer. He is listed at 6-feet-1 and 210 pounds, and he already carries the look of a college linebacker despite still being a high school sophomore. Pelzer already holds offers from several major programs, including Oregon, Texas A&M and Notre Dame.
There may still be movement in Penn State’s 2027 class as well. One potential flip target is 3-star defensive lineman McCoy Richardson, who visited over the weekend and landed an offer on Sunday. The No. 7 player in Massachusetts also picked up a crystal ball from 247Sports national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn projecting him to flip from Wake Forest to Penn State after the visit.
Richardson fits what Penn State has been targeting up front. He measures 6-foot-3.5 and 300 pounds, giving the Nittany Lions the kind of bigger interior presence defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe has been seeking. If he does switch, he would become the third interior defensive lineman in the class and the 23rd overall addition in Penn State’s 2027 group before Early National Signing Day in the beginning of December.
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Penn States Next Opponent Looks More Vulnerable Than Expected
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The uncertainty does not stop there. Starting right tackle Kevin Terry is a game-time decision for the Penn State game, and Keeler still has not named a starting quarterback, with Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard competing for the job. For Penn State, that makes this a matchup worth watching beyond the final score, because Temple could be piecing together key spots just to get through the afternoon. [Read more 🡒]