More positive recruiting news concerning the defensive end position for Penn State football.
On Thursday, it was announced that Texas 4-star DE Max Granville made the decision to re-classify to the Class of 2024, allowing himself to start his college career earlier and getting an early jump on making an impact on Penn State’s defense.
With that news, Penn State’s Class of 2025 was losing a talented defensive end, but they could be picking up someone equally as talented to replace him.
Nittany Sports Now has learned that current Ohio State 4-star DE commit Zahir Mathis will be in State College this weekend attending Penn State’s annual Lasch Bash.
This will be the second visit to Penn State for Mathis in the last month as he also made an official visit in late June. Mathis has been committed to Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes since January 10, 2024. Former Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. has been the lead recruiter for Mathis.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Mathis attends Imhotep Charter Institute in Philadelphia and is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania and the No. 35 overall in the country for the Class of 2025. Last month, the Nittany Lions were successful in receiving a commitment from Mathis’ teammate 4-star running back Jabree Coleman, who was previously committed to Georgia.
Penn State has had a history of solid defensive end play, with Chop Robinson going in the first round of this year’s draft and Adisa Isaac going in the fourth. Deion Barnes’ first season as DL coach was a smash hit, largely because of the defensive ends.
With Granville advancing his timeline, Penn State’s current recruiting class now has 21 members, three of which are defensive ends- 3-star Lavar Arrington II (Covina, California), 4-stary Jayden Woods (Shawnee, Kansas) and 3-star Cortez Harris (Upper Marlboro, Maryland).
