Penn State’s 2026 recruiting class continues to unravel, and Tuesday brought another gut punch. Offensive lineman Benjamin Eziuka, a standout from Novi (Mich.)
Catholic Central, announced he’s flipping his commitment from the Nittany Lions to Virginia Tech. He’s now the third former Penn State commit to pledge to the Hokies in just the last two days - and the eighth to follow former head coach James Franklin to Blacksburg since his departure from Happy Valley.
This latest move adds to a growing list of decommitments that have reshaped what once looked like a promising class for Penn State. Eziuka, who impressed coaches during a strong performance at the program’s Elite Showcase camp back in June, had chosen the Nittany Lions over a solid list of Power Four offers including Cincinnati, Kentucky, Stanford, Wake Forest, and West Virginia. His commitment at the time was seen as a key building block for Penn State’s offensive line of the future.
But with Franklin’s firing in October by athletic director Pat Kraft, the foundation has started to crack - and fast. Since then, 19 players have decommitted from Penn State’s 2026 class. Eight of them, including Eziuka, have now joined Franklin at Virginia Tech, signaling that the former head coach still holds significant sway with the recruits he once brought into the fold.
Eziuka joins quarterback Troy Huhn and linebacker Mathieu Lamah as the latest names to jump ship. Huhn committed to Virginia Tech on Monday afternoon, and Lamah followed shortly after. That kind of momentum - three flips in two days - speaks volumes about the recruiting pull Franklin still commands, even from a new sideline.
For Penn State, the decommitments haven’t just gone one direction. While several top prospects have followed Franklin to the Hokies, others have landed at a range of Power Four programs across the country:
- WR Lavar Keys - Indiana
- WR Jahsiear Rogers - Oklahoma
- OL Kevin Brown - West Virginia
- OL Jack Fuchs - Northwestern
- DL Isaac Chukwurah - Miami
- DL Alexander Haskell - Syracuse
- LB Elijah Littlejohn - Georgia
- CB Jaziel Hart - North Carolina
- CB Julian Peterson - North Carolina
- S Darrell Carey - Maryland
- S David Davis - North Carolina
- K Adam McCann-Gibbs - North Carolina
That’s a wide geographic spread, and it highlights just how much the coaching change has shaken up the recruiting landscape in State College. These aren’t just flips - they’re major losses across every position group.
Eziuka’s original commitment came with the kind of enthusiasm that Penn State fans love to hear. “I wanted to go somewhere where winning isn't a goal but it's an expectation, and that's what Penn State is,” he said at the time. “They are building something special and I wanted to be a part of that and win a national championship in Happy Valley.”
That vision now feels a little more distant.
With the Early Signing Period set to begin Wednesday, Penn State’s 2026 class has been whittled down to just five commits:
- Matt Sieg, Top247 safety from Fort Cherry (McDonald, Pa.)
- Terry Wiggins, Top247 linebacker from Coatesville (Pa.)
Area
- Jackson Ford, Top247 edge rusher from Malvern (Pa.)
Prep
- Tyson Harley, edge rusher from Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)
- Amauri Polydor, cornerback from St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)
That’s not exactly the class Penn State envisioned heading into December - especially considering where things stood just a few months ago. And with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein’s future still uncertain, it’s hard to say if the bleeding has stopped just yet.
What’s clear is this: James Franklin may be gone from Penn State, but his influence is still very much shaping the future of the program - just not in the way Nittany Lions fans had hoped.