During his weekly press conference Tuesday, James Franklin was asked about true freshman defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton’s progress through the season’s first three weeks.
Franklin answered the question and, along the way, got Penn State fans talking about a different matter; housing for football players.
Dennis-Sutton, a five-star from the McDonough School in Owings Mills, Maryland, was Penn State’s most-touted defensive signed from the 2022 class.
But Franklin said he almost didn’t sign for a reason not directly related to football.
A lot of schools that we recruit against either have athletic dorms or football-specific dorms,” Franklin said. “Auburn just built a football dorm, which people are going to say you’re not allowed to do that. “There is a way to do it within the rules and still get the same thing accomplished.”
Franklin told reporters that Penn State lost a player a few years ago because the school didn’t have single dorms for football players.
He didn’t name the player but did say he’s now playing in the NFL.
“and we almost lost Dani over it,” Franklin added.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Although Sutton went to school in Maryland, he’s originally from Millsboro, Delaware.
Franklin pointed out that he had his own dorm room when Sutton went to McDonough.
“That was a big part in the recruiting process, Franklin said.
Dennis-Sutton hasn’t gotten much playing time yet, but he did have his first career sack late in Penn State’s 41-12 win over Auburn this past Saturday.
Franklin sees Dennis-Sutton getting more chances to show what he can do as the year progresses.
“I think you’ll see his opportunities continue to grow as the year goes on and his success,” he said. “But he’s also another mature kid. Physically and emotionally mature kid. He’s always been super focused.
