Penn State emerges as favorite to land four-star receiver from IMG Academy

If you are a die-hard fan of Penn State football recruiting, keep an eye on this four-star wide receiver from IMG Academy. Jerrae Hawkins, one of the top receiver prospects in the 2024 class, included James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions in his top-6 schools at the beginning of this week, and is currently favored to end up in State College all said and done.

Recruitment still 100% open !! pic.twitter.com/kbgTUA3DLr

— Jerrae “Tank” Hawkins Jr ? (@Tankk_1k) March 13, 2023

Jerrae Hawkins favored to commit to Penn State football

Jerrae Hawkins, a four-star wide receiver in the 2024 class, stems from the famed IMG Academy in southwest Florida. Originally, Hawkins is from Wheeling, WV, which explains why Penn State, West Virginia, Pitt, and Virginia Tech are all listed as the top players in his recruitment. According to the industry rankings, Hawkins ranks as the No. 200 player in the 2024 class, the No. 38 receiver, and the No. 26 player in Florida for this recruiting cycle. That being said, ESPN lists Hawkins as the No. 1 player in the state of Florida.

Earlier this week, Jerrae Hawkins released his final six remaining schools that he will choose from — on his list are many familiar faces, though some new competitors for Penn State football as well. Florida, Lousieville, Miami (FL), Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Penn State all made the final cut.

According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, the four-star wide out is favored to land in State College once then time comes to commit. Penn State football has the best odds of any team (35.3%), leading the rest of his top-6 by a wide margin (WVU sits at 16.2%, the rest of the list sits around 1%).

“It was fun,” Hawkins told Sean Fitz of BlueWhiteIllustrated when asked about his weekend visit to State College in September. “Getting to see them play and all that… I liked it a lot. It was my first game up there. I liked the environment, how they played as a team and got the win.”

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