Running back Tiqwai Hayes has been a fixture of James Franklin’s recruiting class since giving Penn State a verbal commitment back in September of 2023.
Since he’s viewed as someone that would be nearly impossible to try and flip, no one has really tried to get Hayes to reconsider his commitment to Penn State.
However, over the last month plus, that’s something that’s changed in a big-time way.
As Nittany Sports Now told you about a few weeks ago, the 4-star running back traveled out to the West Coast and checked out the Stanford program. Whether or not it wants to be termed an official visit, Hayes was shown everything that Stanford University had to offer. That includes meeting some Stanford’s famous alumni including former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
To say that Stanford is working to try and flip Hayes would be an understatement. From what we understand, Stanford is making it known to Hayes that he would be their running back of the future. Also, the NIL package that Hayes could earn would be very enticing and one that would be hard for Penn State to match.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently has commitments from 3 running backs: Hayes, 4-star Jabree Coleman (Philadelphia) and 3-star Kiandrea Barker (Arizona).
The question now is will Hayes stick with Penn State or could he be swayed to take his talents out to the West Coast.
Since their move to the ACC Conference, Stanford has made recruiting the east coast a bigger priority. Former Pitt tight end and Franklin, PA. native Nate Byham, who is Stanford’s tight end coach, is their head of recruiting in Pennsylvania.
Stanford’s Class of 2025 currently has 17 commitments and is ranked No. 23 in Rivals Team Recruiting Ranking. One of those commitments is from Peters Township 3-star linebacker Mickey Vaccarello.
This is a situation to monitor in the coming weeks and months.
