Jaiden Spearman’s first Penn State game at Beaver Stadium as a spectator came when he was just eight years old.
He was rooting against Penn State, not for it.
Spearman’s older brother, Ike, was playing for Eastern Michigan, and the Eagles were looking to shock the college football world by beating Penn State in Happy Valley.
It didn’t happen that way.
Penn State won convincingly, 45-7
But the day left an impression on young Jaiden, and he was especially impressed by the amount of people in massive Beaver Stadium and the crowd noise.
“I’d never really been in a place where the fans cheer that loud,” Spearman told Nittany Sports Now.
Fast forward almost a decade, and little Jaiden is now close to being an adult and making a name for himself as a high school prospect.
He’s a three-star ATH who plays at Windsor Connecticut’s Loomis Chaffee School.
With 12 offers, Spearman is being looked at by plenty of schools, and Penn State is one of them.
Penn State offered the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder July 12, and less than three weeks later, Spearman is visiting Penn State for its annual LaschBash.
Spearman is looking forward to getting to know Penn State’s coaching staff better this weekend, and already has a rapport with a few coaches, namely special teams/linebackers coach Stacey Collins, associate head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith and assistant recruiting coordinator Rashad Elby.
Elby was the one who got to call Spearman and offer him.
“I was excited,” Spearman said. “I’ve been (at Penn State) once before at camp, and I did good. They called me, they offered me. I was excited. I couldn’t believe it.”
Spearman comes from a football family. Along with Ike— who was also recruited by current Penn State coach James Franklin when Franklin was in charge at Vanderbilt— another brother, Derek, signed with UConn in 2021 and is entering his second season with the Huskies.
It’s looking like Jaiden will follow in that DI lineage, and Penn State is just one of a number of options.
Spearman also has offers from both of his brothers’ schools, Eastern Michigan and UConn, as well as Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Michigan, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue and Western Michigan.
As of now, however, Spearman considers Penn State one of his top schools.
“Penn State’s definitely up there,” he said. “I really like it. Can’t wait to get on campus some more.”
Spearman is excited to talk with Penn State’s coaches, and also some 2023 commits that will be in attendance. With the commits, he wants to find out why they picked Penn State.
“I do that on all of my visits,” he said. “I want to know from the players because I’m going to be like them. I’m going to be playing for a school, so I want to know why they chose their school.”
