Penn State's final Class of 2025 piece, DL Daniel Jennings, has arrived on campus

The final piece of Penn State’s Class of 2025 is now in place in Happy Valley. After reclassifying in the spring, West Virginia defensive lineman Daniel Jennings is now on campus at University Park. Jennings confirmed with BWI that he has completed his high school graduation requirements and arrived on Saturday. 

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Jennings signed with the Nittany Lions shortly after making the announcement back in May. It is the second year in a row that Penn State has had a defensive lineman move his timeline up a year to join the program. Texas native Max Granville moved in just before camp last July and played in seven games in the 2024 season. 

Jennings committed to Penn State last summer and made the decision to get on with his college career as quickly as possible. 

“It really had nothing to do with us [pushing the idea],” Lions coach James Franklin said in May. “He wanted to reclass[ify]. Wanted to see if it could work from a Penn State perspective, if we had room to make it work. He was working back at home with his high school. Part of it, I think, is that he lost his high school coach. High school coach left, and basically felt like, in some ways, he was ready.

“I think he was the Player of the Year in West Virginia. He was the number one player as a junior in the state. So once they wanted to do that, then it was ‘Ok, is there a way to make this work, to fulfill your responsibilities for graduation of high school from an NCAA perspective and from a Penn State perspective?’ And then once we realized we could check all those boxes, we said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”

Penn State adds “extremely coachable” talent

A two-way standout as a running back and defensive athlete at Princeton High School in Southern West Virginia. Jennings ran for 1,300 yards and scored 23 touchdowns last fall, earning all-state honors.

“Daniel is the kind of kid that, when you show him how to fix something, he does it almost automatically,” said Princeton head coach Keith Taylor. “He’s extremely coachable. Anything he struggles with, he fixes it next week and that’s something we’re really proud of. He’s starting to become more of a leader, too, which is great to see. He’s always had that swagger on the field, but we didn’t know what we were going to get from him in the locker room and around the guys. That’s exciting to see because it only helps everyone around him.”

As a Class of 2026 prospect, Jennings earned a four-star rating and was ranked No. 160 overall in the On300. Upon reclassifying to 2025, he retained his four-star status in the On3 and On3 Industry rankings. He’s the No. 40 Edge prospect nationally and the No. 1 prospect in West Virginia.