This article originally appeared on Nittany Sports Now’s sister outlet, WVSportsNow.
Penn State football is going to have to do a lot of work to keep its 2026 recruits intact after firing James Franklin.
Plenty of commits have already either de-committed or opened up their recruitment.
When that happens, other schools start calling, and those other schools will include those in the tri-state area.
West Virginia is one of those schools, and there are plenty of Penn State commits WVU is interested in.
As Rich Rodriguez attempts to build a high school recruiting class that’s 35 players deep, his WVU football staff has recently shifted their focus to Penn State commits. Many of Penn State’s top commits decided to re-open their recruitment after now former PSU head coach James Franklin was abruptly fired on Sunday.
While we’ve already addressed several of the most notable recruits West Virginia is interested in, and will continue to do so moving forward, below is a list of some of the top players WVU has reached out to at this point
Matt Sieg (2026 4-Star Safety/QB, PA – Pittsburgh’s WPIAL)
A day after announcing his recruitment is back open due to Penn State firing James Franklin, Western Pennsylvania prospect Matt Sieg revealed he’s been re-offered by WVU.
“Thankful to have been re-offered by West Virginia,” posted Sieg on Monday. Sieg was initially offered by Neal Brown’s WVU staff and made a visit to Morgantown before eventually committing to Franklin and Penn Statein November of 2024.
The four-star safety prospect from Fort Cherry High School in the Pittsburgh Area told Hayes Fawcett of Rivals.comthat he was re-opening his recruitment on Sunday after learning the news about Franklin’s firing. He then wrote his own post to social media later.
“I love Penn State and am still open to being a Lion,” said Sieg, “but with the uncertainty of the current situation, my family and I are trying to make sure we make the best decision for the future. Please respect our decision.”
At this time, I am still committed to current staff at Penn State,” he told Fawcett. “However, due to the recent changes and uncertainty, I have decided to re-open my recruitment.”
Sieg has broke multiple WPIAL records, with the most recent one being for career total yardage. That was Friday night. The next day, Penn State suffered a stunning loss at the hands of Northwestern, and the day after that, Franklin was fired.
Sieg is the No. 2 player in Pennsylvania per 247Sports, along with the No. 9 safety in the country from his class and the No. 79 overall player. Despite playing quarterback, he’s projected to be a safety at the next level.
If he doesn’t stay with PSU, Sieg be the fourth player from the Pittsburgh area to de-commit, joining Taylor (Pine-Richland), Jenkins (Imani Christian) and Spell (McKeesport).
Sieg also has offers from schools such as Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pitt, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, Temple, USC, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.
Terry Wiggins (2026 4-Star OLB, PA)
Davion Brown (2026 4-Star WR, VA) –
Isaac Chukwurah (2026 3-Star DL, DE)
Lavar Keys (2026 3-Sar WR, MD)
David Davis (2026 DB/RB, PA – Pittsburgh’s WPIAL)
David Davis, who attends Imani Christian Academy within Western Pennsylvania’s WPIAL, is already scheduled for a trip down south to Morgantown, per our partners at Pittsburgh Sports Now. Davis’ full visit is expected to occur in the coming weeks once West Virginia returns from their road trip to Florida for a matchup with UCF.
With experience as both a defensive back and running back, the 6-foot, 190-pound Davis is regarded as just an “athlete” by most national recruiting services.
Davis decided to re-open his recruitment on Sunday after Penn State fired James Franklin. West Virginia then sent him an offer hours later.
Gabriel Jenkins (2027 4-Star Safety, PA – Pittsburgh’s WPIAL)
West Virginia initially offered Jenkins almost two years ago in December of 2023. His WVU offer came a couple months after he received one from Pitt.
At Imani Christian Academy, Jenkins stars on both sides of the ball at running back and defensive back. During his sophomore season, he totaled 1,300 rushing yards. On defense, he compiled 20 tackles, six interceptions, five pass break-ups and five tackles for loss.
