New Recruiting Prediction Machine entry for Penn State
Penn State’s Class of 2023 hasn’t earned a new commitment in nearly two months.
Five-star Jven Williams was the last player to make that move in the beginning of February, and who exactly will be next is hard to say. However, following some discussions this week, I logged another pick for Penn State in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine.
On Friday night, four-star defensive end Jameial Lyons announced that the Nittany Lions were among his top five schools, along with Cincinnati, Illinois, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
Although Lyons doesn’t appear to be in a rush, I think Penn State holds a substantial edge currently over the other schools. Because of that, I logged a pick in for the Nittany Lions Sunday morning.
Before this entry was logged, Penn State was already considered the heavy favorite in On3’s RPM with a 79.5 percent chance of landing Lyons. That’s now shot up to 98.6 percent.
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A native of Philadelphia, Lyons told Blue White Illustrated Friday that he’s been on campus “six of seven times,” since his freshman year. He added that the Lions are basically his “hometown school.”
“From the environment to the academics to the team meetings to the coaching staff, everything there works for me,” said Lyons. “I went to the White Out game at Penn State one time and it was incredible. I could picture myself walking out the tunnel there, being there for the next three or four years, being in that blue and white. Coach [James] Franklin is a great head coach, too. There’s not too many people out there in the world who really want to help people out. He cares about you more than just a football player. He wants to help you get to the NFL, but also be successful after that. So, I know Penn State got a good coach there.”
Since June 2021, Lyons has taken four visits to Penn State, compared to just one visit each to Rutgers and West Virginia. The Mountaineers are likely Penn State’s main competitor currently. He told BWI earlier this week that he’d like to visit Pitt and West Virginia in the near future. However, a return trip to Penn State in early April is the only one currently planned.
According to the On3 Consensus, Lyons is a three-star prospect, ranking No. 466 nationally. However, our scouts at On3 rank him much higher. In addition to giving him a four-star rating, Lyons is a member of the On300 for the Class of 2023, coming in at No. 241 overall. On3 has him ranked No. 4 overall in Pennsylvania.
Lyons is the second RPM prediction I’ve logged at the defensive end position, joining Baltimore native Mason Robinson. Penn State already holds one commitment from a player at that position in Neeo Avery.
