Recruit Rewind: Detailing WR Tyseer Denmark's path to Penn State

Penn State will kick off spring practice in just over two weeks from now, March 12. With a little over a week remaining in the February dead period, plus spring break from March 3-9, head coach James Franklin and his staff have just a few more weeks to focus on their current roster before on-campus recruiting starts up again.

With that in mind, we’re looking back on Penn State’s Class of 2024 these next few weeks, profiling all 25 players. Today, we’ll recap Philadelphia native Tyseer Denmark’s path to becoming a Nittany Lion.

Tyseer Denmark
Wide Receiver
5-10, 180
Imhotep Charter
Philadelphia, Pa.

Rankings	Stars	National	Position	State
On3 Industry	***	557	88	11
On3	***	N/R	98	13
ESPN	***	N/R	70	19
Rivals	****	N/R	64	8
247Sports	***	N/R	85	10

Statistics

• Totaled 28 receptions for 330 yards and four touchdowns as a senior.
• Totaled 35 receptions for 665 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior

Notable

• Four-year letterman
• Earned an invite to the Under Armour All-America Game
• Transferred from Roman Catholic to Imhotep Charter for senior season

Recruitment

• Committed to Penn State on June 21, 2023
• Recruited by Deion Barnes & Marques Hagans
• Picked Penn State over Ohio State and Oregon
• Officially visited on June 16, 2023

Projection: All three of Penn State’s new wide receiver prospects will likely need some time to adjust to the college level, but if anyone is going to make an impact early on, Denmark makes the most sense. He’s not enrolling until the summer, which will make it tough, but he has the burst and agility to be a playmaker. We’ll still lean towards Denmark redshirting in 2024, but he’s definitely one to keep an eye on. 

Imhotep offensive coordinator Glenn Hutton: “He bends really well for a wide receiver. He gets in and out of his breaks really well. He’s not just fast, but he’s quick, too. Some guys are just fast or just quick. He’s both. But for sure, the biggest thing is how hard he’s working to get better as an individual, and that’s on the field and off the field. From a team aspect, he’s been great for us.”

Get to know Penn State WR Tyseer Denmark

When Philadelphia native Tyseer Denmark announced in Nov. 2022 that he was close to making a commitment, Penn State fans couldn’t help but get excited. After all, by that point in his recruitment, Denmark had taken five visits to Penn State. It was nearly as many as every other school combined.

But then the predictions started to come in, and it wasn’t where many fans expected. Sure enough, a few days later, those predictions proved to be accurate when Denmark announced his commitment to Oregon on Nov. 24.

Of course, Denmark also still had more than a year to go until he could sign at that point, which gave Penn State’s staff plenty of time to change his mind. That was especially true for Director of Player Personnel Kenny Sanders. After all, it was only a few years prior that Sanders left Penn State to go work for the Ducks before returning to State College in Feb. 2021. 

“Obviously, getting Tyseer Denmark to Penn State was big for me, especially considering where we had to flip them from. That was huge,” Sanders said back in December. “The Philly kids are always going to be big for me.”

Sanders is best known for the relationships he’s built around Baltimore, but Philadelphia is also a key region for him. Those relationships gave him an early in with Denmark when he was still an underclassman at Roman Catholic. Ever since then, getting him into Penn State’s program was one of Sanders’ key assignments.

“I’ve known that kid for a long time and I know some of the stuff he’s gone through in his life,” Sanders said. “So, for me, it was really personal because when you have kids that go through a lot of adversity, some of the reasons why you want to get them in your program is because you know you’re going to take care of them and you know you’re going to do the right thing for him.

“Maybe other programs would too, but I can’t trust that. For him, I know what we’re going to do for that kid and his life and the structure we’re going give them.”

Denmark ended up switching his commitment to Penn State last June after taking an official visit with the staff. He never wavered after that but did make another move at the high school level, transferring from Roman Catholic to city rival Imhotep Charter right as preseason camp began.

While he wasn’t able to participate in Imhotep’s state championship playoff run because of PIAA transfer rules, Denmark did make an impact in the regular season, impressing the staff at Imhotep. His stats were modest – he finished with 28 receptions for 330 yards and four touchdowns in 2023 – but don’t let that fool you. Denmark is easily one of the best athletes in Penn State’s class.

“He bends really well for a wide receiver. He gets in and out of his breaks really well,” said Imhotep offensive coordinator Glenn Hutton. “He’s not just fast, but he’s quick, too. Some guys are just fast or just quick. He’s both. But for sure, the biggest thing is how hard he’s working to get better as an individual, and that’s on the field and off the field.”