3-star DL Xavier Gilliam commits to Penn State

Columbia (Md.) Wilde Lake three-star DL Xavier Gilliam has committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions. He picked Penn State over Duke, NC State and Virginia Tech.

The 6-foot-2.5, 260-pounder is the No. 756 overall prospect and No. 49 defensive lineman in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 19 player in Maryland.

Gilliam visited Penn State for the first time last April but did so without an offer. The Nittany Lions extended him an offer in February and since then he’s returned to campus in March and again on June 2 for an official visit.

“Coming back as one of their offered guys, it showed me how much they care about their guys,” Gilliam told BWI in March. “I had a recruiting coordinator with me the entire day, just talking football. Overall, it was just very good. I thought it was really good to see Coach [James] Franklin’s character. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. He was telling us all how it is, straight up, at Penn State. I really enjoyed that.

“But also, just seeing their updated facilities and being around some of the players and seeing what they had to say about Coach Franklin and the whole coaching staff. I felt like I got a lot out of it.”

For more Penn State recruiting intel, check out BWI.

Xavier Gilliam currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $16.3K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Gilliam adds to a nice day for Penn State

With his pledge, Gilliam became the second pledge of the day for the Nittany Lions. Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson three-star offensive tackle Deryc Plazz announced his commitment to Penn State earlier in the day.

With those commitments, Penn State now has 16 commitments in its 2024 class. The class as a whole ranks as the No. 12 class in the country and No. 3 in the Big Ten.

Of the 16 pledges in the class, five are ranked four-star prospects.

Belle Vernon (Pa.) four-star athlete Quinton Martin is the highest-ranked player in the class for the Nittany Lions at No. 41. They also hold a pledge from top-200 cornerback Jon Mitchell.