Penn State football signed, sealed and delivered on 25 incoming prospects Wednesday morning as the Nittany Lions put the finish touches on the 2024 recruiting class. The group is rated the No. 14 class in the nation according to the 247 Network and is headlined by five-star tight end prospect Luke Reynolds who is rated the nation’s 27th-best recruit in the cycle by the network. In total 20 members of the class are rated four stars or higher one of the major recruiting outlets.
“I want to thank the staff, in 2023 there’s a lot to be said, for a drama free signing day,” Penn State coach James Franklin said at his annual signing day press conference. “And I think we take that for granted. I think it’s very telling about the staff and how thorough and detailed we are. I think it’s very telling about our process that we don’t pressure guys to commit. I also think it’s very telling about the type of young men that we recruit, the families that they come from, and the high school coaches and people they’re surrounded with. So that’s been great and I’m very, very appreciative of that.”
An unusually large number of the incoming 2024 class will enroll early in the coming week with 16 of the signees headed to the campus in January: Liam Andrews, Antoine Belgrave-Shorter, Eagan Boyer, Josiah Brown, De’Andre Cook, Cooper Cousins, T.A. Cunningham, Xavier Gilliam, Ethan Grunkemeyer, Jaylen Harvey, Kari Jackson, Quinton Martin Jr., Jon Mitchell, Luke Reynolds, Garrett Sexton and Vaboue Toure.
“I think if you look at our classes, it’s pretty well rounded,” Franklin said of a Penn State class comprised of 12 offensive and 13 defensive players. “They really were able to fill needs at every position as well as as signing [players] so we can continue to develop across the board.”
Penn State continued to find success within the state, with 15 members of the incoming class coming from within a 200-mile radius of State College, one of the larger totals in the Franklin era. Overall, the Nittany Lions signed five of the top 10 players in the state, led by athlete Quinton Martin and inside linebacker Cooper Cousins, who are rated the No. 1 and No. 2 prospects in the state by the 247 Network.
However, as Franklin noted on Wednesday, Penn State’s prospects in 2025 are less certain with the Nittany Lions’ early eight-man haul including just one player inside the top 15 from the state in tight end Brady O’Hara. No players inside the current top 10 of Pennsylvania’s 2025 class have verbally committed to any program so far.
“We’ve got a pretty good run again in the state of Pennsylvania,” Franklin said. “We’ve got to do it again next year. That’s not looking as promising right now as it has been the last couple of years, but we’re gonna battle and find a way to get that one done as well … we take a lot of pride in that. Again, I’m a big believer for a lot of different reasons, not just Penn State’s but for the young men, that it’s a win-win for everybody. The best players in Pennsylvania, need to stay in Pennsylvania, they need to come to Penn State. I also believe the best players in the region should come to Penn State. I’m biased but I think we’re the best option in terms of combination of school and football and being able to compete at the very highest level.”
The current signing day period technically runs until Jan. 15 while a second signing period is scheduled to begin on Feb. 7.
