PSU’s James Franklin Uses Bye-Week to Recruit

Penn State football is back this week in preparation for their Big Ten match up against Michigan this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Ann Arbor.

The team is coming off their bye-week after suffering an embarrassing 29-6 loss to Northwestern at home a week earlier. The bye-week proved to be revitalizing for head coach James Franklin and his players. Franklin gave his players Thursday, Friday and Saturday off, and returned to the practice field on Sunday. The time off allowed the Nittany Lions the chance to recuperate physically and mentally and prepare for a tough road contest in the Big House.

While the players had a chance to get caught up on rest, it was business as usual for Franklin. The first-year head coach and his staff took advantage of the bye-week to do some in-season recruiting. During the college football season, opportunities to recruit come few and far between. Therefore, maximizing any free time to build for the future throughout the season is necessary.

Currently, Penn State’s 2015 recruiting class ranks seventh in the nation and first in the Big Ten according to ESPN Recruiting Nation. The team has 20 verbal commitments out of a maximum 25. Twelve four-star recruits and 10 three-star recruits make up the 2015 class so far.

Franklin did not mention where he and staff were headed during their recruiting trail, but we do know that they visited 2015 defensive tackle commitment and four-star recruit Adam McLean on Thursday night. McLean tweeted his excitement that coach Franklin and running backs coach Charles Huff traveled to Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Md., to see him play against Churchill High School. Pictures surfaced on Twitter showing Franklin arriving to the game in Maryland via helicopter.

Checking up on McLean proved that the weekend was not only about trying to secure five more commits, but also about checking in with the players who have already committed to the Nittany Lions.

With that, here is a list of the Penn State Nittany Lions 2015 recruiting class, which is in the top-10 in the nation for the first time since 2006:

 

Name

Position

Star Rating

High School

Height/Weight

Brandon Wimbush

(QB) Dual

★★★★

St. Peter’s Prep (NJ)

6’2″/205

John Reid

CB

★★★★

St. Joseph’s (PA)

5’10″/180

Sterling Jenkins

OT

★★★★

Baldwin (PA)

6’8″/305

Adam McLean

DT

★★★★

Quince Orchard (MD)

6’2″/290

Juwan Johnson

WR

★★★★

Glassboro (NJ)

6’4″/200

Ryan Bates

OL

★★★★

Archbishop Wood (PA)

6’5″/280

Saquon Barkley

RB

★★★★

Whitehall (PA)

5’11″/190

Andre Robinson

RB

★★★★

Bishop Mcdevitt (PA)

5’9″/205

Steven Gonzalez

OG

★★★★

Union City (NJ)

6’3″/300

Kamonte Carter

ATH

★★★★

Gaithersburg (MD)

6’4″/235

Brandon Polk

WR

★★★★

Briar Woods (VA)

5’9″/152

Manny Bowen

OLB

★★★★

Barnegat (NJ)

6’2″/206

Daiquan Kelly

ATH

★★★

Union City (NJ)

6’2″/206

Irvin Charles

WR

★★★

Paul VI (NJ)

6’4″/212

Ryan Buchholz

DE

★★★

Great Valley (PA)

6’6″/240

Jake Cooper

ILB

★★★

Archbishop Wood (PA)

6’1″/220

Jonathan Holland

DE

★★★

The Bullis School (MD)

6’4″/240

Ayron Monroe

S

★★★

St. John’s College (DC)

6’0″/195

Myles Hartsfield

S

★★★

Sayreville War Memorial (NJ)

5’10.5″/175

Jarvis Miller

S

★★★

Suffield (CT)

6’2″/188

 

 *Section photo credit to Justin K. Aller, Getty Images; Featured photo (above) credit to Nabil K. Mark, MCT

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