Penn State lost seven verbal commitments in the Class of 2025; where did they sign?
Penn State football suffered just one decommitment in the Class of 2024. It was not as fortunate in the Class of 2025. The Nittany Lions’ benefitted from the flip process in the latest recruiting cycle, of course. They took four-star St. Joe’s Prep linebacker Cam Smith away from Duke in August, four-star Virginia receiver Matthew Outten away from Virginia Tech in September, and three-star Ohio cornerback Josh Johnson away from Louisville in October. Who did they lose? We have a rundown below.
Where did former Penn State commits end up?
The Nittany Lions suffered their first Class of 2025 decommitment way back in September of 2023. Toms River, N.J., three-star offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews became the first commit in the cycle initially back on Jan. 30, 2023. However, he backed away from his pledge on Sept. 12, 2023. Later, he committed to Rutgers on June 11, 2024. He then signed with the Scarlet Knights on Wednesday.
Penn State parted ways with New Jersey defensive back Omari Gaines on the first day of March in 2024. He previously committed to the Nittany Lions on March 28, 2023. The three-star ultimately signed with Stanford.
The Nittany Lions suffered two decommitments back in June. Elba, Ala., four-star running back Alvin Henderson was the first. He committed to Penn State on April 11, 2024. By June 16, rumors were swirling that he would move on to a school closer to home, but he said at the time that the coaching staff knew that he was ‘locked in’ to being a Nittany Lion. That did not end up being the case, though. The nation’s No. 127 player and No. 7 player in the On3 Industry Rankings flipped to Auburn on June 21 and signed with the Tigers on Wednesday. Two days later, the Lions suffered their second decommitment of June. On the 23rd, New Jersey linebacker DJ McClary and PSU parted ways after he had been committed to the school since Sept. 24, 2023. He committed to Rutgers the same day and signed with the Scarlet Knights.
Penn State parted ways with another early commitment in the Class of 2025 in August. Beebe, Ark., three-star running back Kiandrea Barker picked the Lions on April 16, 2023. However, on Aug. 13, 2024, he announced that he would no longer be furthering his football and athletic careers in State College. He did not sign with a college program on Wednesday during the first day of the early signing period.
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The Lions suffered one decommitment in September. Miami, Fla., three-star safety Antonio Branch picked Penn State on June, 19, 2024. However, his commitment was fairly short-lived, as he decommitted on Sept. 23 by flipping to Colorado on the same day.
Penn State’s final decommitment was easily its most impactful one. Shawnkee, Kans., four-stat edge Jayden Woods picked the Lions on June 26, 2024. There was little indication that he would flip until November. He popped up at a Florida game last month and ultimately flipped to the Gators on Nov. 29. The nation’s No. 116 player and No. 14 edge in the On3 Industry Rankings signed with the SEC school on Wednesday.
Were there more flips than normal this year?
Coming into this year, Penn State had averaged four decommitments per cycle between 2015 and 2024. So, the number, seven, this year is slightly higher than normal but not out of the norm nationally. Here’s the breakdown by year:
2015: 4
2016: 7
2017: 2
2018: 6
2019: 3
2020: 7
2021: 2
2022: 4
2023: 8
2024: 1
2025: 7
