Considering how early he committed to Penn State and his national ranking, Messiah Mickens knew that wouldn’t stop other programs from stop recruiting him.
Mickens was exactly right as he was reminded of that on Saturday.
The 2026 4-star running back from Harrisburg announced that he had received an offer from Mack Brown and North Carolina.
#AGTG Beyond blessed to receive an offer from The University of North Carolina ⚪️🐏 @UNCFootball @CoachLPorter @CoachMackBrown @RivalsFriedman @SWiltfong_ @EdOBrienCFB @ChadSimmons_ @adamgorney @PaFootballNews @RyanSnyderOn3 pic.twitter.com/58geXC6mk8
— Messiah Mickens (@Messiah_1M) June 15, 2024
Along with the offer, Mickens received a recruiting graphic from the Tennessee Volunteers. Saturday was the first day that college programs were permitted to directly reach out to players in the Class of 2026.
Appreciate the love 🟠 ⚪️ @DeRailSims @CoachWalt_ @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/XrNZWWqr5k
— Messiah Mickens (@Messiah_1M) June 15, 2024
Unfortunately for Penn State and for Mickens, this will no doubt continue since he isn’t permitted to officially sign with Penn State until December of 2025.
The 5’10”, 195-pound back is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 6 running back and the 116th overall prospect in the Class of 2026. 247 Sports has him even higher rating him as the No. 86 overall recruit.
The native of Pennsylvania made a commitment to Penn State back on August 19 of 2023 but the offers continued to pour in. In 2024, Mickens has received offers from Oregon, Georgia, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Miami, Fla. Aside from those programs, he also holds offers from Alabama, Duke, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Last season for Harrisburg, Mickens carried the ball 105 times for 961 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also catching 13 passes for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns.
https://t.co/hUYYIJ8LK0 Junior snz approaching !!
— Messiah Mickens (@Messiah_1M) December 27, 2023
At this point, Mickens is Penn State’s only commitment for the Class of 2026.































