Malvern’s White leads Penn State class of recruits
After all 15 of Penn State’s committed players signed letters of intent before noon Wednesday, coach James Franklin sounded satisfied.
The Nittany Lions had the worst start (0-5) in school history and couldn’t entertain recruits on campus for the BlueWhite Game or the White Out, two of their biggest recruiting events.
But they signed six four-star and nine three-star high school seniors.
“One of the things that I’ve been proud of, we’ve had very little drama on Signing Day,” Franklin said. “The guys who are supposed to sign have typically signed. That’s been good. A lot of them have been committed to us for a long time. We also went to maybe some non-traditional places for us to find some guys. I thought that went well.”
Franklin and Penn State director of player personnel Andy Frank both made it clear, though, that the Lions have work to do before the next Signing Day in February.
They expect to sign about three more seniors and also will pursue transfers to fill needs, such as defensive end and the secondary.
Seniors could return in 2021 because the NCAA has granted a waiver to all athletes and will not count this season against their eligibility. If they do return, they will not count toward the 85-scholarship limit.
Franklin praised the three wide receivers in Wednesday’s class: Lonnie White Jr. of Malvern Prep, Harrison Wallace of Pike
Road, Ala., and Liam Clifford of Cincinnati, the younger brother of Lions quarterback Sean Clifford.
White is a standout in football, basketball and baseball.
He once was committed to Clemson to play baseball and plans to play football and baseball at Penn State.
“I think I called him our version of Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders,” Franklin said. “It’s not going to be easy, but we’re excited about getting him.”
White was rated the seventh-best high school senior in Pennsylvania, but Penn State failed to land any of the top six. That includes No. 1 prospect Nolan Rucci, an offensive tackle from Warwick and the son of Upper Darby All-Delco. PSU alum and former NFLer Todd Rucci, who signed with Wisconsin.