Per Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports, 4-Star recruit, Jayden Hodge (2026), is scheduled for an official visit with Penn State this fall.
Hodge is the No. 59 ranked overall player in the country. He plays for Montverde Academy out of Montverde, Florida. The 6′-6,” 190 lb. prospect is also the No. 24 ranked small forward in the country and the No. 11 ranked player in Florida.
Earlier this month, it was reported by Joe Tipton of On3 that Hodge had Penn State on his final list of eight schools to attend. The other seven schools on Hodge’s list are Virginia, Old Dominion, VCU, Northwestern, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Georgetown. He completed official visits with Georgetown and Northwestern back in June. Hodge is also planning on visiting Mississippi State, Old Dominion and Vanderbilt this fall.
According to Adam Finkelstein, director of scouting for 247, Hodge is a big power wing who plays a physical style on offense and defense.
He can push the ball up the floor himself, gets downhill with a lot of sheer force, and bully smaller defenders, but still has plenty of nuance to his attack. He can navigate traffic in a crowded lane, has good use of both hands, is an efficient finisher (68% at the rim), plays with pretty good feel, and is a capable passer off the dribble. He’s also a very impactful defender who is switchable, particularly up the line-up. He lacks twitchy quickness, but has very good hands, both in passing lanes and on the ball (2.4 steals per game in UAA play), and is an exceptional perimeter rebounder (6.9 per game including 2.1 on the offensive end).
The Nittany Lions currently have one commit in the 2026 class, Dionycius Bakare, a small forward out of The Phelps School in Malvern, PA.
