California cornerback Lennie Brown gets first look at PSU

By Ryan Snyder

Penn State hosted a handful of prospects from the West Coast this past weekend for its season finale against Rutgers. As we wrote about earlier in the week, 2025 offensive lineman Ben Howard and 2026 defensive tackle Cameron Brickle were among the notable players to make the trip East. Brickle, who grew up in Philadelphia, had been on campus multiple times previously before transferring to Santa Margarita Catholic in Southern California.

But Brickle wasn’t the only player of note from Santa Margarita this past weekend, as Class of 2026 cornerback Lennie Brown also flew across the country to see a game in Happy Valley. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound corner also left campus with an offer from the Nittany Lions.

“[Saturday] was a very cool experience. My first Big 10 game,” Brown said. “It was active and loud. The environment was so original and tradition-rich there. I got to meet the head coach, James Franklin, the cornerback coach, Terry Smith, assistant running backs coach [Charles] Walker and a few other assistant coaches.

“They treated me well and the hospitality was great. I got to meet some of the players, who were also pretty cool, and I got to see how things are run there. A lot of the stuff I saw was player-led, which was cool to me because it shows that everyone has respect for each other, which I like. They’re a really developed team and have a decent rotation in the back half of the defense, which stood out to me as well.”

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Leading up to the visit, Brown knew that Penn State had interest, but since he’s a Class of 2026 prospect, his conversations with the staff were limited. Still, that didn’t stop him from making the trip.

“What made me want to come out was the experience,” Brown said. “Penn State’s fans, culture and tradition are just something different. I wanted to experience something new really. It’s different from what you see in other leagues.”

Of course, being teammates with a player who’s visited multiple times previously also helped, as Brown said that Brickle informed him about Penn State prior to the visit.

“He told me a little about how cool and hospitable the coaches are at Penn State and how well they treat you,” Brown said. “He also mentioned how the fans are.”

Despite playing at a high school loaded with future college players, Brown made a real impact his sophomore season, totaling 35 tackles in 11 games. He also had six pass deflections and two interceptions.

So far, Arizona, California and UNLV are the other three schools to offer, but that’ll likely change once Brown starts taking more visits next year.

“I don’t have any visits planned until 7-on-7 season, which starts later in the winter,” Brown said. “But I’d love to come back and visit PSU again. I’m not sure how soon though. Probably sometime during my junior year.”