James Franklin and Penn State just keep rolling.
Before this past weekend, Penn State had two players committed in its 2025 class.
It’s gotten two ‘25 commits within the past 24 hours.
The first was DJ McClary, a four-star linebacker from New Jersey. The most recent one is an in-state product in Aliquippa RB Tiqwai Hayes. Hayes is a 6-foot-1 athlete who comes from a legendary high school as far as football is concerned. Aliquippa has produced three NFL Hall of Famers: Mike Ditka, Ty Law and, most recently, Darrelle Revis. No other high school has produced as many players with gold jackets. Another Hall of Famer, 1976 Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett is from Aliquippa and played at Hopewell High School, which is in the same county.
This also holds true for legendary Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny, who played at Hopewell in the early 2000s.
Hayes is the second WPIAL running back to commit to Penn State out of the two upcoming recruiting classes. The first is Penn State’s highest-rated commit of the ‘24 Class: Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin. Both Martin and Hayes are listed as running backs but are capable of playing other positions as well. Hayes had three interceptions for Aliquippa last season.
But make no mistake; he’s made his biggest impact in the run game. Last year, Hayes gained 2,011 yards rushing and scored 33 touchdowns. As a freshman, he gained 1,720 yards and scored 23 touchdowns.
So Penn State’s 2025 Class now looks like this: Four-star RB Tiqwai Hayes (Aliquppia), four-star RB Kiandrea Barker (The Woodlands, Texas) four-star LB DJ McClary (Jersey City, New Jersey) and three-star S Omari Gaines (Newark, New Jersey.)
