Is Penn State still in the running for 4-star TE Andrew Olesh ahead of his Friday announcement?
A Big Ten battle for one of the nation’s top Class of 2025 tight ends will be officially resolved on Friday, one day before two of the finalists play in the league’s title game. Penn State and Oregon, who meet in Indianapolis Saturday night for the conference crown, are joined by Michigan as the only three schools left in the running for Center Valley, Pa., Southern Lehigh four-star tight end and current Wolverines’ commitment Andrew Olesh.
George Olesh, Andrew’s father, told On3’s Vice President of Recruiting and Transfer Portal Steve Wiltfong the latest on Wednesday as prospects around the country are already officially joining their future programs during day one of the early Signing Period. Andrew Olesh, who stands 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, will not be one of them. The current plan is for a decision to be made either today or Thursday. Then, the signing will take place on Friday. He is the No. 55 player nationally in the On3 Industry Rankings and the No. 3 tight end. On3 ranks him at Nos. 43 and 2, respectively.
“He’s still undecided,” George Olesh said Wednesday. He slept on it. He’s not giving any indication at this point. I feel there is probably 25 percent chance or better for all three schools depending on the school. I told him to not feel pressured to make a decision because his announcement is Friday.
“I’m letting him go, and there was additional information I got this morning. I think he’s processing everything. It’s real close for all three schools.”
Olesh has been committed to Michigan since July 8. He took official visits to see the Wolverines, Ducks, Nittany Lions, Alabama, Florida, Oregon, and Notre Dame. PSU leads his On3 visit center with a total of 10 trips to State College.
Penn State will push through Friday to try and sign Olesh
Penn State signed 26 Class of 2025 recruits on Wednesday. Two of them, Cleveland, Ohio three-star Brian Kortovich and Powhatan, Va., four-star Matt Henderson, are tight ends. The Nittany Lions ramped up their pursuit of the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Kortovich in November and landed him back on Tuesday. Henderson has been committed since May and is a fixture in the class.
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Olesh, then, has been a long-time target who the Lions missed out on when he made his first decision. Since then, and especially recently, James Franklin has missed no opportunity to use interviews as a way to communicate how badly his program wants to flip the Pa. native.
“If you’re a great tight end in the country, and specifically in the state of Pennsylvania, I don’t know how you couldn’t come here,” Franklin said in November. “Like, there’s just too much history. There’s too much data. And there’s too many things saying that you don’t need to go anywhere else. You can stay home and get everything you want in terms of your college career and also setting yourself up for your future.”
“If you’re a tight end out there in the United States, or specifically in Pennsylvania, I don’t know why you wouldn’t come to Penn State.”
That was an indirect, direct pitch to Olesh. By the end of Friday, Franklin and Penn State will find out if that, and all its other work in this recruitment, paid off.
