Penn State picks up commitment from Top 100 cornerback prospect Jon Mitchell
Penn State stayed hot on the recruiting trail Saturday morning, picking up a commitment from Florida cornerback Jon Mitchell. A four-star prospect from Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Mitchell has long been considered one of Terry Smith’s most important targets at the position.
“It really feels like home to me,” Mitchell told On3’s Hayes Fawcett Saturday morning. “The way coach Terry Smith develops his cornerbacks to be elite stands out. Also, I just fell in love with the facility and all the coaches are just genuine. It’s a family I want to be a part of.”
Mitchell went on to add, “I’m close with the cornerback’s coach, coach Terry Smith. He is just a great guy in general and will talk football. But then he will communicate with you and have talks about life, and he’s one of the best [cornerback] coaches in college football.”
Related: Which recruits are expected to visit Penn State Saturday?
Listed at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Mitchell earned an offer from the Nittany Lions in Sept. 2022. He then visited State College a month later for last year’s White Out game. That’s when Penn State emerged as a serious player.
His high school position coach, Cavonte Campbell, played a role in kickstarting this recruitment, as Campbell trained current Nittany Lion cornerback Cam Miller in recent years. The bond he had with Smith led Mitchell to trust Smith very early on.
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“Jon Jon is a very low-maintenance kid,” Campbell said about Mitchell in a preview interview. “He’s not a super vocal guy. More of a leader by example. He’s super competitive though and has some God-given talents that are going to make him successful no matter where he goes.”
Mitchell is now the top-ranked player in Penn State’s Class of 2024. On3 has him as high as No. 61 nationally. He’s the eighth-ranked cornerback and the ninth-ranked player in the Sunshine State.
Mitchell is also the second cornerback to commit to Penn State’s Class of 2024, joining Philadelphia native Kenny Woseley. It’s believed that the Lions would be open to taking as many as four cornerbacks in this year’s class.
Both Mitchell, Campbell and his high school teammate, Antoine Belgrave-Shorter, are on campus all day today. They arrived in State College on Thursday and will leave Sunday morning. Belgrave-Shorter is also a top target for the Nittany Lions moving forward. Another Florida cornerback, Jameer Grimsley, is also high on the staff’s board.
