STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Commitments sometimes come in bunches and that's certainly what transpired in Happy Valley this weekend.
Penn State's annual Lasch Bash event, where top prospects, pledges and their families are on hand, has quickly become one of the team's top recruiting events and since Friday that's translated to verbal pledges from five players. Kicker Jake Pinegar was slated to be the newest addition to the class, picking up a scholarship offer and then giving James Franklin and staff his verbal pledge on Sunday. However, within 30 minutes the Lions secured another verbal pledge, this one from 4-star receiver Daniel George, of Oxon Hill, Md., giving Franklin two pledges within one hour.
Penn State's 2018 class now stands at 19 members and includes a trio of receivers, among them five-star pledge Justin Shorter and a pair of highly-touted classmates in Shaquon Anderson-Butts and George.
No better place...Happy Valley?⚪️?#WeAre18 #107kStrong #committed pic.twitter.com/evuCuHRV4f
— Jake Pinegar (@jpinegar10) July 16, 2017
COMMITTED ! pic.twitter.com/jZ8Mbto4ZM
— Dan (@11DanielGeorge) July 16, 2017
Here's a recap the recruiting action this weekend and really, who knows if George is the last one before the clock strikes midnight?
•Three-star D-lineman Judge Culpepper gave Penn State his pledge on Friday afternoon, kicking off the Lasch Bash weekend.
•Quarterback Will Levis, who camped for the staff Friday night, then picked up a scholarship offer and quickly pulled the trigger on Saturday. Levis gives the Lions their quarterback for this 2018 cycle, a spot that was previously occupied by Justin Fields. Once Fields decommitted the Lions needed to find another quarterback, a similar situation there were in a few years ago where they lost the pledge of Brandon Wimbush and then rebounded with Tommy Stevens.
•Penn State's ties to Harrisburg High School run deep and that pipeline continues with wide receiver Shaquon Anderson-Butts, who made his pledge public on Saturday afternoon. Anderson-Butts, besides being ranked as the 12th-best player in the state, also could give the Lions a littler leverage in their quest to win over 5-star defensive end Micah Parsons. Defensive end Damion Barber, who signed with Penn State in February but has yet to enroll, wrapped up his career at Harrisburg High this spring.
Anderson-Butts wasted no time working on a little recruiting of his own with Parsons:
@Micah_parsons23 it's that time ??♂️??♂️
— quon (@anderson_quon) July 15, 2017
•Penn State's commitment to having a scholarship specialist or two on the roster at a time continues to prove true, this time with Pinegar, who was the first of two Sunday commitments. Penn State saw first-hand what a difference a scholarship specialist can make with what punter Blake Gillikin did last season as a true freshman, and they'll look to see what Pinegar can do for them in the future.
The Lions have at least two scholarship specialists on the roster this season with Gillikin and redshirt freshman kicker Alex Barbir. Kicker Tyler Davis was put on scholarship last spring and has been about as reliable as possible with field goals. This addition gives Penn State depth and competition at kicker in the coming years. It also speaks to the overall balance by position on this roster and on the depth chart that they're pursuing specialists.
•Arguably the Lions' best get of the weekend was their last one. George, who is 6-1, 205 pounds, was a high-priority target for this class and gives the Lions a future receiving corps that could be loaded. George is ranked as the 43rd best receiver in the nation in this cycle, per the 247Sports composite rankings, is the eighth-best prospect in Maryland. Pair that with Shorter, who was elevated to a 5-star prospect last week, and Anderson-Butts and that should be a very appealing young group for a future quarterback to work with.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Seriously, who knows? This is as wild of a recruiting weekend during the Franklin-era as I can remember. It was certainly busy right when Franklin made the switch to Penn State and then saw some lineman and a three-star quarterback named Trace McSorley pledge to Penn State as well, but this is an impressive feat.
There's no doubt last year's success is paying off with this class, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation and still has many offers out to elite prospects, which means spaces could be getting a little tight as this class fills. It's very possible that Penn State will end up turning away some talented high-end players just because of the numbers game and how many pledges they already have. That happens everywhere and is just a part of recruiting.
So, how much space do the Lions have after this busy weekend? The class stands at 19 and could be crunched to take 25, depending of course what the rest of the roster looks like in the coming months and also based off who the Lions could lose early to the NFL Draft and several other factors (transfers, departures, etc.). Look for the Lions to have space for 6-7 more players, but how many more of those come within the next month before high school seasons ramp up remains to be seen.