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Penn State Football Recruiting Roundup: February 3, 2017

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:11 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Marty Leap/FanSided via Victory Bell Rings

National Signing Day has now come and gone. However, it is still a busy time in the world of Penn State football recruiting.

The 2017 edition of National Signing Day is behind us and it was a successful one in the world of Penn State football recruiting. A big reason for this was the Nittany Lions picking up a pair of commitments of National Signing Day.

Furthermore, the Nittany Lions signed all 15 un-signed players that started the day as Nittany Lion commits. This is something that had not always happened in the past. But, as they say, winning cures all.

Now that signing day is in the rear-view mirror it is time to look ahead to the 2018 recruiting cycle. Additionally, it is time to reflect upon the fantastic recruiting class Penn State just signed.

Welcome to this week’s look at all things Penn State Football recruiting. Welcome to this week’s recruiting roundup.

Penn State Signs A Top-15 Class

Yesterday, the Nittany Lions signed their second top-15 class of the James Franklin Era. According to the composite rankings of 247 Sports, Penn State’s class was the 15th best in the country. James Franklin’s 2015 recruiting class also checked in as the 15th best in the country.

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This was James Franklin’s fourth overall recruiting class at Penn State, and his third that was solely his. All four of them have ranked in the top-25 in the country, while each of the past three have been top-20 classes.

The Nittany Lions added their final two members of the class on Monday. Early Monday morning, three-star defensive tackle Corey Bolds committed to the Nittany Lions. He was joined later in the day by four-star defensive back Tariq Castro-Fields.

Both of these commitments were due to a great recruiting effort by Franklin and his staff. Corey Bolds woke up Wednesday morning as a silent commit to Rutgers, but flipped his commitment to, and signed with, Penn State.

As for Castro-Fields, he appeared to be Maryland bound. In fact, the Terrapin coaching staff even thought they had his commitment secured on Monday. However, Franklin and his assistants remained relentless and landed the shut down corner.

You can see Penn State’s entire list of 2017 commitments below.

Looking Ahead To 2018

All eyes now turn to the 2018 recruiting cycle. The Nittany Lions are already off to a fantastic start with their 2018 recruiting class. Currently, the Nittany Lions have seven commits and the best recruiting class in the country for the 2018 cycle.

This past Sunday the Nittany Lions hosted some of their top targets for 2018 for a mini junior day. They also hosted a pair of 2018 commits. These two commits were tight end Zack Kuntz and wide receiver Justin Shorter.

Among the top targets the Nittany Lions hosted were linebacker Jesse Luketa, offensive lineman Matthew Jones, defensive athlete Nick Tarburton, offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, and running back Ricky Slade. During his visit on Sunday, Nick Tarburton earned the Penn State offer he had been waiting for.

With the offer, I would guess the Nittany Lions have become the early leaders for the four-star defensive athlete. Tarburton has the ability to play linebacker or defensive end at the collegiate level.

The class grew on Thursday when three-star linebacker Charlie Katshir made the call for the Nittany Lions. You can read a breakdown of Katshir here.

To be honest, I would not be surprised to see a few more additions or two to Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class in the coming days. After Sunday’s mini junior day there are a lot of wheels turning behind the scenes here.

Penn State Makes The Cut

On Wednesday night, five-star linebacker Teradja Mitchell released his top 11 schools. Penn State was one of these 11 schools.

The rest of his top 11 is Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, and Virginia Tech. Mitchell is a Virginia Beach native and is by all accounts a major Florida State lean right now. While the Seminoles will be almost impossible to beat here, it never hurts to have players like this interested in the program.

That will do it for this week. It has been a busy week due to National Signing Day and now all efforts turn toward the 2018 recruiting cycle. As always, stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all of the latest news in the world of Penn State football recruiting.

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