Penn State adds two rising 2025 prospects from down south to upcoming junior day lists
Penn State’s upcoming list of junior day visitors continues to grow. Over the past few weeks, the Nittany Lions have locked in visits with many of the Mid-Atlantic region’s top players, but now two 2025 offensive line prospects from down south have confirmed their plans in Mississippi native Mario Nash and Texas native Connor Carty.
Nash, who checks in at 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, earned an offer from Penn State offensive line Phil Trautwein last summer and will be visiting State College for the first time on Feb. 3.
A three-star prospect from De Kalb, he’s totaled 20 scholarship offers so far. Florida State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech have all hosted him on multiple occasions, while both LSU and Georgia Tech also got him on campus for games this season.
Before he travels north to Penn State, Nash plans to return to the two schools he’s seen the most so far, beginning with Florida State on Jan. 20. He’ll then go to Mississippi State the following weekend, Jan. 27. Although it’s still too early to write off other schools, he did admit this week that those two programs are in the a strong position.
“It is still too early for a top favorite,” Nash told On3’s Paul Jones on Thursday. “I want to see how other visits go and I still have to get to Penn State, Southern Cal and some other schools. But overall, I would say Florida State and Mississippi State are my top two schools. I am in contact with those coaches the most and I’ve been able to build good relationships with those coaches.”
On3’s Industry Rankings have Nash ranked at No. 356 nationally and 26th overall at offensive tackle.
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Carty, who resides outside of Dallas in Prosper, just recently picked up an offer from the Nittany Lions last week and will be visiting Penn State for the first time on Jan. 27. Since the start of his junior season, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman has earned nine new scholarship offers to bring his total to 18 schools overall.
Earning an early three-star rating, Carty has visited many of the region’s top programs, including Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. He also traveled to Nebraska and Oregon for games during the season. In addition to Penn State, he also has a visit scheduled to Texas on Jan. 20, plus a return visit to Texas A&M on Feb. 3.
On3 analyst Sam Spiegelman provided his thoughts after watching Carty play in November.
“Another one of those Prosper OL that checks a lot of boxes is three-star IOL Connor Carty,” Spiegelman wrote. “Carty, a mauling interior OL who checks in at 6-foot-5 and tips the scale at 300 pounds at the tail end of his junior season, was a force in the run game in the Eagles’ district-clinching game on Thursday.
“Carty is broad and moves well at his size. He plays downhill with a nasty streak. He’s physical at the point of attack and a classic road-grader. Run-blocking is his true bread and butter, and more and more colleges are taking stock this fall.”
The On3 Industry Rankings rate Carty at No. 386 nationally and 26th overall at the interior line position.
