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Penn State continue to probe the portal, the Early Signing Day is almost here, and more in this week’s Blessed & Honored

EARLY SIGNING DAY PREVIEW

Wednesday will be the Early Signing Day for college football. It appears that the Nittany Lions will have a relatively news and drama free day, which is not a bad thing. The Nittany Lions are primed to sign another top 15 class.

Penn State currently has 23 commits in their 2023 class. 22 of the 23 appear to be slam dunk locks to sign with the Nittany Lions on Wednesday. The only one that remains up in the air is four-star Florida safety Conrad Hussey.

Hussey has been committed to Penn State since April but the coaches are working hard to get this one across the finish line. The St. Thomas Aquinas product has taken official visits to Florida State and Miami the past two weekends.

The in-state schools are continuing to work hard to flip Hussey. Basic geography tells you that the odds could be stacked against the Nittany Lions when it comes to keeping Hussey in the class. However, as of this writing, with less than 24 hours to go until the faxes begin to roll in Hussey is still committed to the Nittany Lions.

Another prospect to watch on Wednesday could be cornerback Daniel Harris.

Another Florida prospect, Harris de-committed from Georgia in November. A big reason for his de-commitment was the work that Terry Smith and the Nittany Lion coaches were doing with Harris. This made it appear the Nittany Lions would become the team to beat for the four-star cornerback.

Since his de-commitment the Harris recruitment has been a rollercoaster. Predictions and flipped back and forth between the Nittany Lions and Bulldogs. More than once it appeared the Nittany Lions were going to be in position to lock up Harris, but that never happened.

Harris is expected to sign with either the Nittany Lions or the Bulldogs on Wednesday. The 247Sports Crystal Ball, as well as on3’s RPMs all point toward the Bulldogs being the choice. This could go down as a recruitment where the Nittany Lion coaching staff did all they could but things just did not go their way.

COACHES HIT THE ROAD

Late last week and into the weekend, the Nittany Lion coaching staff were out on the road making visits to both committed and, at the time, un-committed prospects. This included an important visit to four-star safety commit DaKaari Nelson.

Nelson has been committed to the Nittany Lions since the summer time, but took visits to both Auburn and Ole Miss this fall. With the Alabama native’s commitment potentially up in the air, a strong in-home visit helped the Nittany Lion coaching staff finish to complete lock Nelson in. Nelson is set to sign with the Nittany Lions on Wednesday.

Coaches also dropped in on three-star running back Cameron Wallace.

Back in November, the Georgia speedster took an official visit to Happy Valley for Penn State’s victory over Maryland. Coming out of the visit the Nittany Lions appeared to be in a good spot in his recruitment and their lead only continued to grow. Nailing the in-home visit last week helped Penn State to land a commitment from Wallace on Monday night.

NEW 2023 OFFENSIVE LINE OFFER

With the Nittany Lions still searching for another offensvie tackle in their 2023 recruiting class, they have extended an offer to Chimdy Onoh.

Onoh is Dundalk, Maryland, product who has seen his recruitment start to take off in recent weeks. This comes after a strong senior season from Onoh. Penn State is one of seven Power 5 offers that Onoh has received since the start of December.

After the calendar flips to 2023 and the recruiting dead period ends, the Nittany Lions will likely look to get Onoh on campus for an official visit. This is a recruitment that should be wide open entering the new year.

TRANSFER PORTAL UPDATES

As Penn State continues to probe the transfer portal looking for wide receiver help, they have offered NC State wide receiver Devin Carter.

Last season Carter caught 25 passes for 406 yards and a pair of scores. The previous season he had 556 yards and 6 touchdowns while averaging 17.9 yards per reception. Odds are, the reason Carter’s stats took a dip this past season was due to injury to NC State quarterback Devin Leary.

Carter is a graduate transfer. So, wherever he lands, he will bring one season of eligibility with him. Adding to 6-foot-3, 216 pound Carter to the fold would add a big bodied deep threat receiver that the Nittany Lion receiver room currently lacks.

Last week we discussed Penn State offering Wake Forest transfer defensive back Gavin Holmes. Since then, Holmes has scheduled a January official visit to Happy Valley.

Holmes would be a welcome addition to the cornerback room. While a starting duo of Kalen King and Johnny Dixon should be a strong one in 2023, outside of nickel back Daequan Hardy, Penn State lacks experience cornerback depth. Holmes would help fill this hole in a big way.

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By: Marty Leap
Title: Blessed & Honored: More Transfer Portal News, Previewing Early Signing Day & More
Sourced From: www.blackshoediaries.com/2022/12/20/23517840/blessed-honored-more-transfer-portal-news-previewing-early-signing-day-more-penn-state-recruiting
Published Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2022 12:00:00 +0000

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