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Penn State

Penn State stands firm in On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting rankings

nate-mug-10.12.14by: Nate Bauer06/05/23NateBauerBWI
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Penn State has increased its Class of 2023 recruiting haul to 17 members. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

A comparatively quiet May on the Class of 2023 recruiting front made way for a Penn State kaboom on Sunday. Host to their first camp of the summer, with official visit season underway, the Nittany Lions picked up three verbal commitments.

Penn State kicked off the afternoon with a noon commitment from offensive lineman Deryc Plazz. It followed later in the afternoon with defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam. And the night capped with the pledge of four-star safety DeJuan Lane.

When the dust settled, Penn State held firm with its place at No. 12 in the updated On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings.

The Nittany Lions have been holding onto the ranking since their burst of commitments numbering eight in April. In the current rankings, they trail Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Florida State, Oregon, Tennessee and LSU. They are ahead of Arkansas, Clemson and Texas A&M, who round out the top 15.

Evaluating Penn State On3 Industry Ranking

The Nittany Lions now boast 17 commitments for the Class of 2023. That number ties the program with Michigan, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest for having the most pledges at this point in the cycle.

In the On3 Industry Ranking algorithm, the Nittany Lions’ quantity to the class is less significant than the representation of its top players, though. The rankings are formulated on a moving scale as the cycle progresses, with the present number recently increasing to seven.

In that vein, the commitment of Lane, a consensus four-star prospect, Penn State’s numbers shifted even though its ranking stayed the same. Coming out of the day, the Nittany Lions held a team score of 91.278. Their average per-recruit score for the entire class is 89.24, down slightly from its 89.56 going into the day.

Scouting the Big Ten

The Nittany Lions continue to hold steady at third place in the Big Ten. The two rivals of the east division, Ohio State (94.339) and Michigan (92.871), continue to hold down the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, respectively.

Examining the rest of the Big Ten, though, the Nittany Lions remain in good shape.

Southern Cal has entered the conversation, now with five commitments, but is still significantly behind Penn State in the team score with an 88.618 score. Iowa rounds out the top five in the conference with 11 commitments and a score of 88.471.

The rest of the Big Ten has Wisconsin, Nebraska, UCLA, Purdue, and Minnesota rounding out the top 10. Rutgers, Northwestern, Michigan State, Indiana, Maryland, and Illinois complete the Big Ten rankings.

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