New Recruiting Prediction Machine entry for Penn State
Penn State picked up some good news on the recruiting trail Wednesday with the addition of On3 Consensus wide receiver Carmelo Taylor. Now, the Nittany Lions appear to be closing in on a quarterback for the Class of 2023.
On Thursday morning, West Des Moines, Iowa, native Jaxon Smolik opened up his recruitment, officially decomitting from Tulane. He committed to the Green Wave on June 23, but just a week later received the opportunity of a lifetime, earning a last-minute invitation to the Elite 11 Finals. That performance, which landed him among On3’s top performers, combined with Marcus Stokes’ decision to switch his commitment to Florida, put him on Penn State’s radar immediately.
Smolik then traveled to State College July 29 to work out with Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Not only did he throw the ball well, but he showcased just how athletic he truly is, making him an ideal fit for the Nittany Lion offense.
Now, with his decision to back out of his Tulane commitment, I’ve logged a new Recruiting Prediction Machine entry for Penn State with a confidence score of 70. The Nittany Lions now hold a 98.9 percent chance of landing his commitment.
Smolik also admitted recently that both Notre Dame and Wisconsin had reached out to him to gauge his interest following the Penn State offer. Those schools have yet to offer, however.
That, combined with the fact that Smolik wants to have his decision finalized before his season opener on Aug. 26, was also factored into my decision to log this pick now.
Although Smolik wasn’t able to stick around for the Lasch Bash Barbecue the day after his workout, he did spend hours touring facilities and campus before working out for the staff.
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“I saw the facilities and all of those wowed me,” Smolik said in an extensive interview last Friday about Penn State. “I’ve never seen anything like that because I’ve never been to a huge Power Five school like that. I never got to tour something like that. This is my first time doing this. I was wowed with the facilities, but you know, I can’t get all glory-eyed over stuff like that. I kind of got to go down to the little things: what the coaches are like, what the academics are like. So, I focused on that.
“I loved the coaches. That’s one of the main things. They were all so nice to me. I talked to the academic guy and he was a great guy, too. He knows what he’s talking about, which is really good. That’s what you want from a school. You want their academic people to push you on academics, so I liked that a lot. But just all the coaches combined really kind of helped me with all that stuff.”
Smolik said he also appreciated that Penn State’s staff didn’t try to force him into making a decision right away.
“At the end (of camp], I thought they were going to push me to make a commitment to Penn State. So, I was kind of going into that talk with [James] Franklin thinking that I was going to have to make a game-time decision, which I was pretty nervous about. But, they totally understood the situation I was in. They gave me time to think about this whole big situation I just got put into like a month ago. That’s what really stood out to me when Franklin let me have some time to choose my path.”
Smolik played in just four games last season, breaking his collarbone in the first game of the season. He returned late toward the end, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 959 yards passing, 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
“This whole collarbone situation changed me as a person,” Smolik said. “It changed how I play football, how I view the game of football. It changed so much for me. I’m not saying I’m glad this happened to me, but it was really eye-opening for me. I learned that anything could happen at any moment.
“That’s why I always want to make sure I’m a great person before anything else. Football could end at any second, so you never really know. It’s weird. I’m glad I got to experience and learn from that, but I’m not glad at the same time. It was definitely an eye-opening moment in my life.”
