James Franklin has landed how many verbal commitments in the past week?
It’s been a critical few days during a busy month in which the Nittany Lions’ 2025 class has now picked up commitments from nine players in June. Six of those pledges have come since June 21.
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Four-star wide receiver Jeff Exinor Jr. of Maryland’s McDonogh School is the newest pledge. Exinor picked Penn State over Maryland and Virginia Tech on Friday night. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound prospect is ranked 273rd nationally per the 247Sports Composite and is the 11th-best athlete this cycle. Exinor, who is the 20th prospect verbally committed to this class, helps fill a pressing need. Exinor joins wide receiver Lyrick Samuel, a four-star prospect from Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall High School, as just the second wide receiver in this group.
1000% Commited‼️ pic.twitter.com/wM2GAUgK6f
— Jeff “El Jefe” Exinor (@JrExinor) June 28, 2024
While much of the past week has been about Penn State snagging pledges from edge rushers in Kansas and Texas and a 2026 quarterback commit from San Marcos, California, Exinor’s pledge is a reminder that Penn State’s grip remains strong on McDonogh. No, the Nittany Lions won’t land every McDonogh prospect, a detail they were reminded of earlier this week when cornerback Brandon Finney picked Oregon over a group of finalists that included Penn State, but the Nittany Lions hit rate is still remarkably high there.
It’s still the school that’s located 40 miles from College Park, Md., the one Franklin has strong ties to from his time at Maryland and the one Kenny Sanders, Penn State’s director of player personnel, graduated from in 2000. Because of these factors, McDonogh has become one of the biggest pipelines of talent for Penn State football.
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Former Nittany Lions like Curtis Jacobs and PJ Mustipher once starred at McDonogh while Penn State’s current roster features three scholarship players — defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, defensive end Mason Robinson and defensive tackle Dvon Ellies — who all matriculated from the school.
Exinor closed out his official visits this month with trips to Penn State and Maryland. It was Terrapins offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis, one of the original members of Franklin’s Penn State staff, who was recruiting him to Maryland.
(Photo: Matthew OHaren / USA Today)
