Recruit Rewind: Detailing WR Peter Gonzalez's path to Penn State

Penn State will kick off spring practice in just over three weeks from now. With two weeks to go in the February dead period, plus spring break from March 3-9, head coach James Franklin and his staff have just a few more weeks to focus on their current roster before on-campus recruiting starts up again.

With that in mind, we’re looking back on Penn State’s Class of 2024 these next few weeks, profiling all 25 players. Following our look at De’Andre Cook, we’ll shift our focus today to another player who could ultimately outshine his high school ratings.

Peter Gonzalez
Wide Receiver
6-2, 205
Central Catholic
Mars, Pa.

Recruiting Rankings

Rankings	Stars	National	Position	State
On3 Industry	***	808	125	18
On3	****	N/R	56	8
ESPN	***	N/R	71	22
Rivals	***	N/R	N/R	29
247Sports	***	N/R	82	9

Statistics

• Totaled 42 receptions for 737 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior.
• Had 47 receptions for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior.
• Holds Central Catholic’s career receiving record with 2,240 yards

Notable

• First-team all-state in 2022 and 2023
• Was named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Fab 22

Recruitment

• Committed to Penn State on June 23, 2023
• Recruited by Terry Smith and Marques Hagans
• Picked Penn State over Pitt, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin
• Officially visited on June 16, 2023

Projection: Central Catholic doesn’t allow its students to graduate early, which means Gonzalez won’t be on campus until May or June. Because of that, a redshirt season feels likely, but it’s no secret that 1) the Lions need help at wide receiver and 2) if ever there’s a position a freshman could contribute at, it’s receiver. Gonzalez proved last summer that he’s excellent athletically – he ran a 4.49-second 40 and a 4.2-second shuttle. He’s also a bright individual, so we’re not concerned about him learning the playbook. He won’t have much time to get up to speed before preseason camp, but he has the tools to at least contribute on special teams as an underclassmen.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic head coach Ryan Lehmeier: “The number one thing you’re getting with Peter is he’s an explosive athlete with all the measurables and ability to play the position. He has tremendous ball skills and uses his body well. He has tremendous upside and is a tireless, self-driven worker and set the tone with his effort in practice and mastering his craft.”

Get to Know Penn State WR Peter Gonzalez

You won’t find a single player in Penn State’s 2024 class who truly earned his offer more than wide receiver Peter Gonzalez. A native of Mars, Pa., Gonzalez emerged as a talented prospect at Pittsburgh Central Catholic during his sophomore season, totaling 422 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

However, just when he started to pick up interest from schools, Gonzalez suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during a 7-on-7 competition in Jan. 2022. Although he still earned a verbal scholarship offer from Penn State just a few weeks later, the Nittany Lions and every other coaching staff made it clear at the time that his recovery would have a big impact on his recruitment moving forward.

After missing the first few games of his junior season, Gonzalez came back earlier than expected and put up some impressive stats, totaling 42 receptions for 737 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. But while it was good to show that he had recovered enough to play again, major Division I schools were still questioning how much the injury may have impacted him athletically.

But anyone who knows Gonzalez knows he’s all about proving his doubters wrong. He started by running track for the first time last spring and ultimately posted a 10.86-second 100-meter time. That caught everyone’s attention. But Gonzalez wasn’t finished, as he followed that up with a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at the New Jersey UC Report Camp at the end of April.

Link: Penn State adds 2025 commitment from New York wide receiver Lyrick Samuel

Everything started to shift after that. 

“There’s definitely been a big uptick in interest from Penn State since the UC Report Camp,” Gonzalez said last summer. “I actually found out about my time through [PSU’s staff]. One of their coaches text me saying, ‘I see you running that 4.49.’ I didn’t even realize I ran that time. I had to go look it up and that’s when I saw the graphic on Twitter. But there’s definitely been more and more conversations since then. They said I answered the biggest question for them.”

Gonzalez proved what he could do one more time last summer when he attended Penn State’s Elite Prospect Showcase on June 4. In addition to backing up his 40 time that day, he also posted a 4.2-second shuttle and surpassed 32 feet in the triple broad jump, which measures explosion. For perspective, Penn State hosted more than 1,500 campers last summer. According to our sources, Gonzalez’s triple broad was better than all of them.

“We didn’t think he was that explosive,” said lead recruiter Terry Smith when asked about Gonzalez’s camp performance in December. “But he’s incredibly explosive. We got some basketball videos of him dunking the basketball any kind of way you ask. He’s super explosive. So, we’re excited because now Coach Hagans gets an opportunity to coach him up. All that talent, all that intelligence, [plus] his physicalness and his size. It’s exciting to have him come in.”

As soon as that camp was finished, Penn State locked in an official visit with Gonzalez for June 16-18. His recruitment might as well have finished after that performance, but he did take an official visit to Virginia Tech (June 9-11) before returning to PSU and committing a week later on June 23.

Link: Sporting new number, KJ Winston talks Penn State’s ‘crazy’ offseason

“Honestly, through the ups and downs, they’ve been pretty consistent. They were one of the first schools to offer me and Coach Smith has been consistent the whole way,” Gonzalez said. “They’ve been very honest with my family, which we value a lot. After everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done, I feel like I’ve truly earned my spot there. I feel like I earned the respect of the people there, which makes it feel like home.”

With his recruitment wrapped up, Gonzalez had his best season yet as a senior, finishing with 47 receptions for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall. He’s also broke Central Catholic’s all-time career receiving record with 2,240 yards.

All that work also earned Gonzalez a boost in On3’s rankings. Just like De’Andre Cook, Gonzalez is technically the lowest-ranked player in PSU’s 2024 class at No. 808 nationally in the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a cumulative ranking system that puts together On3, 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN. However, our scouts at On3 loved what they saw both athletically and on film, moving him up to a four-star player at the end of January.

“I really like his senior film,” said On3 Scouting Director Charles Power. “He’s a guy who runs well for his size and is playing outside receiver at a powerhouse like Central Catholic…He’s clearly very athletic with good size and is making a lot of plays. I was very encouraged by what we saw from him.”