A four-star from Western Pennsylvania has Penn State in his top five.
Dayshaun Burnett, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound four-star LB/ATH from Pittsburgh’s Imani Christian High School, has PSU as a finalist along with Kentucky, Rutgers, Pitt and West Virginia.
Blessed to announce my Official Top 5 colleges💯. Where’s home? @ImaniCAFootball @Chise89 @Evolve2tenths @210ths @RivalsFriedman @adamgorney @tyler_calvaruso @EdOBrienCFB @wpialsportsnews @PaFootballNews here’s where I talk about it👇🏾https://t.co/A7n3sJRnji pic.twitter.com/BSUI50K1AW
— Dayshaun Burnett ( LB/ATH ) (@dburnett_10) December 2, 2023
Penn State was the first school to offer Burnett, doing so in July 2022.
Along with his top five, Burnett has offers from Akron, Central Michigan, Duke, Michigan, Michigan State, UMass and Temple. Burnett last visited Penn State Sept. 2 to watch the team’s 38-15 season-opening win over West Virginia under the Beaver Stadium lights. He’s the No. 8 overall ‘25 player in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports.
After visiting Penn State-West Virginia, Burnett told Lions247 that he was impressed with how hard Penn State’s defense played.
“Even if they made a mistake, they made it at 100 miles per hour,” Burnett said. “They play with an extremely high motor.”
Burnett told Pittsburgh Sports Now in September that Penn State was in his unofficial top three along with Pitt and Rutgers, and mentioned that he was “going to see Michigan, too.”
But Michigan didn’t end up making Burnett’s official list of finalists.
Burnett also talked to PSN about the eye-opening experience that was his first DI offer.
“When I got an offer from Penn State. That was like ‘oh, okay, woah. I’m here. Keep doing what I do best,’” Burnett said.
So what does Burnett feel he does well as a player?
“My physicality, mainly on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “My reads are there, just go out and pop people.”
PSU currently has six players committed in its 2025 Class. Two of them, four-star TE Brady O’Hara (North Catholic) and three-star RB Tiqwai Hayes (Aliquippa) are from the WPIAL.
