This past weekend, Penn State hosted recruits from literally all over the country.
One of the hundreds of recruits in attendance was 2026 4-star offensive lineman Ben Nichols from Davison, Michigan. That visit must have made an impression because Nichols has released a Top 9 and it includes the Penn State
Had a Great time in Happy Valley!! #weare @CoachTrautFB @coachjfranklin @chrismahon_ pic.twitter.com/oY89Fhipvg
— Ben Nichols 4โญ๏ธ (@BNichols2026) November 10, 2024
Nichols (6’5″, 315-pounds) is rated by Rivals.com as one of the Top 25 lineman in the country and one of the Top 200 overall players in the Class of 2026.
Along with Penn State, Nichols lists Alabama, Michigan State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Iowa as his other finalists. Power Four programs that offered but didn’t make his list of finalists were Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue and Virginia Tech.
Penn State identified Nichols early as they were one of his early Power Four offers. The Michigan native made an unofficial visit to Penn State back in March and then received an offer from Phil Trautwein later in May.
Nichols gave Penn State’s offensive line coach some pretty high praise as he said this about Phil Trautwein, “Probably the smartest coach I’ve gotten to meet.”
Penn State’s Class of 2026 currently has seven commitments and has a Rivals Team Recruiting Ranking of No.3 in the country. One of the seven early commitments is 4-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
