BREAKING: Michigan State lands four-star WR, top Penn State football target

On Friday, Penn State football missed out on one of its top remaining targets for the class of 2024. This afternoon, four-star WR Nick Marsh committed to Michigan State over the Nittany Lions, Pitt, Michigan, and several other programs. Although for a time it looked like Penn State was going to be able to pull one of the top prospects in Michigan to Happy Valley, ultimately, Marsh decided to stay home.

Four-star WR Nick Marsh picks Michigan State over Penn State football

A four-star recruit, Nick Marsh is a top 25 WR and a consensus top 3 overall player in the state of Michigan for the 2024 cycle. The River Rouge product, nicknamed “Baby Megaton” after former Detriot Lions WR Calvin Johnson, had originally committed to Michigan State in July 2022. However, Marsh’s recruitment was reopened after he decommitted from the Spartans in March.

It looked like Penn State was in a solid position to land Nick Marsh, especially following his official visit in early June. Several outlets put in predictions for Marsh to become a Nittany Lion. However, as we reported last week, things began to turn in this recruitment after Marsh visited Michigan State to close out the month of official visits. This, of course, followed Penn State’s string of three WR commitments in 49 hours two weeks ago. Now, in a rarely-seen occurrence, Marsh is back in the Spartans’ 2024 class, as Mel Tucker and Michigan State regained a commitment from the four-star WR.

On3 Director of Recruiting @ChadSimmons_ has logged an expert prediction in favor of Penn State to land 4-star WR Nick Marsh (@NickMarsh_11)🦁

Read: https://t.co/zSKv35tE8x pic.twitter.com/L1RjAeeWn8

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) June 1, 2023

Ebbs and flows

Recruiting is all about ebbs and flows, and right now, things appear to be flowing against the Nittany Lions. After landing seven players in June, several commitments have gone away from Penn State in the first week of July. In addition to Marsh, the Nittany Lions were also beat out by USC for Hempfield High School DL Deyvid Palepale.

While regionality suggests that Penn State may have always been long shots in these recruitments to begin with (Marsh is from Michigan and Palepale moved from Alaska to Pennsylvania only a few years ago), there are several other commitments to watch in the coming days. Benedict Umeh, a top 10 DL who was once trending to Penn State but now appears to be heading to Stanford, announces his decision tomorrow (July 8).

Nittany Lions fans also need to watch the recruitment of top Maryland edge prospect Jaylen Harvey. Harvey, who is still favored by 247Sports and On3 to land at Penn State, was supposed to commit on July 4 but pushed back his decision back indefinitely. However, Penn State is expected to rebound from this recent recruiting slump with four-star edge Mylachi Williams, who is set to announce his decision on Saturday.

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