Lions nab four-star recruit Flowers
The New Year got off to a fabulous start for Penn State coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions.
Mehki Flowers, a four-star recruit and junior from Steel-High who is slated to play wide receiver or safety in college, announced his commitment to Penn State Friday.
He picked the Nittany Lions over offers from about 20 other schools, including Arizona State, West Virginia, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.
Flowers is the eighth commitment for Penn State’s Class of 2022, which is ranked second in the nation. All the Nittany Lions’ commitments so far are rated at four stars; five of them are from Pennsylvania.
The 6-1, 190-pound Flowers is rated the fourth-best junior at the state and 133rd in the country, according to 247Sports.
He helped the Rollers go 10-0 and win the PIAA Class 1A championship this season. He was named the state’s Player of the Year in Class 1A by the Pennsylvania Football Writers, pafootballnews.com and easternpafootball.com.
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passes for 1,006 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2020, according to pennlive.com. He also returned a kickoff and a punt for TDs. On defense, he had 36 tackles, five interceptions, 10 pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Also, the Nittany Lions picked up their fourth transfer since Dec. 21 when Temple defensive end Arnold Ebiketie announced Thursday on Twitter his commitment to Penn State.
Ebiketie, a grad transfer who has two years of eligibility remaining, was a second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2020. The 6-4, 235-pounder had 42 tackles, including 8.5 for loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles in six games this season for the Owls.
In his career, he has 59 total tackles, including 10.5 for loss, and six sacks in 25 games.
Ebiketie, who attended Albert Einstein High in Kensington, Md., provides depth and experience to a position that is losing Shaka Toney, Shane Simmons and Jayson Oweh.
He joins Baylor running back John Lovett, South Carolina cornerback Johnny Dixon and Duke defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo as players transferring to Penn State.