College Football

Penn State Football: National Signing Day Preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:19 p.m. ET

Fansided, Barry Leonard Jr./FanSided via Victory Bell Rings

Get ready for all the Penn State action on National Signing Day.

National Signing Day is coming up on Wednesday. It’s a day of great excitement around college football, as each school gets a new sense of hope for the future. Penn State has done a good job recruiting lately, particularly under James Franklin. The 2017 class is shaping up to be another very solid one for the Nittany Lions.

There are often surprises that take place, even right up to Signing Day. That’s the name of the game with young recruits still in high school. The unpredictability of it all is what makes it so exciting.

Nothing is ever set in stone until that Letter of Intent comes through on a coach’s fax machine.

Currently, the Nittany Lions have 18 recruits in the 2017 class. Four early enrollees are already official. Cornerback Lamont Wade, wide receiver K.J. Hamler, linebacker Brelin Faison-Walden, and offensive lineman Michael Miranda all started school in January.

Wade is the top recruit in the class, coming in at No. 46 in the nation.

Of the remaining hard commits, seven are offensive players and seven are defensive. According to 247Sports, the highest rated commit on offense is guard C.J. Thorpe. He’s No. 87 in the nation and the No 6 guard. On defense, the top commit is defensive end Yetur Matos — No. 203 in the nation.

As it stands now, Penn State is ranked as the No. 15 class.

The 14 commits all seem solid and likely to actually sign with Penn State Wednesday. However, the exception is three-star wide receiver Mac Hippenhammer. There’s a chance that he’s going to flip to Notre Dame, but he still insists he’s solid to the Nittany Lions.

Other than Hippenhammer, there shouldn’t be many surprises for Penn State on Wednesday. There are a few targets that Franklin and his staff would love to bring on, so those guys will need to be watched.

Linebacker Ellis Brooks recently received an offer and would be a great addition to the staff, especially since fellow linebacker Dylan Rivers has already flipped to Virginia Tech. Brooks is set to announce sometime on Monday, and all indications are that he’ll be playing football in Happy Valley.

Cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields was expected to already be committed to Penn State, but pushed his commitment date to National Signing Day. He’s still expected to sign with the Nittany Lions, but he’s definitely a name to watch.

Another name to keep an eye on is Georgia commit Mark Webb. The four-star wide receiver has been committed to Georgia since the fall, but Franklin and his staff have worked to get him to flip to the Nittany Lions. There’s no actual indication that he will, but anything can happen.

The news on National Signing Day will be fast and furious. Be sure to follow Victory Bell Rings on social media and check back often for all the latest Penn State football recruiting news.