One of state's top prospects to visit Penn State, despite West Virginia pledge

ALTOONA, Pa. -- This little tidbit of news came as a bit of a surprise Monday afternoon, although it perhaps shouldn't have been all that unexpected.

Pennsylvania's No. 3 prospect for the class of 2023, wide receiver Rodney Gallagher from Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown, committed to West Virginia back in May. Penn State made a strong effort in recruiting the 4-star prospect but lost out.

Now, however, the door appears to be back open for the Nittany Lions -- thanks to this tweet by Gallagher:

Gallagher (5-foot-10, 160 pounds) remains committed to the Mountaineers, but you have to wonder how much longer that could be the case. Signing day is coming up in one month, and if he's coming to Penn State for this week's regular-season finale, it will provide the Nittany Lions one last chance to convince him to flip his commitment.

Why is this not a surprise? Well, West Virginia is 4-7 this season, and coach Neal Brown is on the hot seat there, with many fans calling for him to be fired. Brown is just 21-25 in his four seasons with the Mountaineers.

Penn State is 9-2, and Gallagher has to know he could walk into a more stable situation with the Lions.

Will he flip? At this stage, we just don't know. But he will be on campus for this week's game against Michigan State, and you can count on him getting the royal treatment trying to change his mind.

4-STAR WR DECOMMITS

It was just Sunday that Penn State lost 4-star wide receiver prospect Ejani Shakir, who decommitted. Shakir (6-0, 175) is from Winslow Township High School in Atco, N.J.

With Skakir decommitting, Penn State has only one wide receiver in the 2023 recruiting class -- 4-star Carmelo Taylor (5-11, 160) from Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Va.

It simply cannot be a coincidence that Shakir decommitted one day, then someone like Gallagher announced the next day that he's visiting Penn State.

ALLEN HONORED BY BIG TEN

Running back Kaytron Allen was named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week on Monday, the second such award of his career. He also received it after week four against Central Michigan.

Allen rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries in Penn State's 55-10 win at Rutgers on Saturday. It was the second 100-yard rushing game of his young career.

Allen and Nicholas Singleton became the first freshman duo in Big Ten history to each have 700 yards rushing in the same season.

Singleton has won the Big Ten's weekly freshman honor three times, so combined he and Allen have captured that honor five times this season.

DIAZ UP FOR AWARD

Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant coach. Here are all the semifinalists:

Diaz has done a marvelous job in his first season at Penn State, and it'll be very interesting to see if he comes back for a second season, or if he gets a head coaching job somewhere else.

I'll have much more on Diaz later this week.