BREAKING: Penn State football lean commits elsewhere

The Penn State football team is on the verge of potentially wrapping up the 2025 recruiting class. Especially at the rate the hard commitments are coming in. Over the past three days the Nittany Lions have secured four new commitments. On Tuesday, the momentum fell slightly for the 2025 cycle. As Brandon Finney the No. 1 ATH in Maryland has made his pledge to Oregon over Penn State.

Brandon Finney is a versatile player on the field. He has experience playing on both sides of the ball spending time as a cornerback and wide receiver at McDonogh School. The Owings Mills (Maryland) native stands at 6-2 185 pounds and projects to play defensive back at the next level. Over the past few weeks, he took official visits to Penn State, South Carolina, Ohio State, and Oregon. On June 18 he announced that he would make his commitment this week. On Tuesday, he officially announced to play for the Oregon Ducks the school he most recently took an official visit to.

On3 lists Finney as the No. 1 ATH in Maryland. He is the No. 3 prospect in the state and a top-5 athlete in the country (No. 131 nationally). According to 247Sports, football isn’t the only sport that Finney excels in. He has shown off his blazing speed in track and field. During his junior season, Finney qualified for the Maryland A state finals in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.

In a last-minute turn of events Finney seemed to be trending towards the Nittany Lions. On Tuesday, he received two FutureCasts by Rivals insiders Dylan Callaghan-Croley and Marty Leap. However, Finney decided to head off west to play for the Ducks instead.

WE OUTSIDE #GODUCKS pic.twitter.com/45zKMzgaoB

— BRANDON FINNEY (@BrandonnFinney) June 25, 2024

Could Penn State land a different McDonogh product on Friday?

Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday afternoon, Jeff Exinor announced that he will make a commitment decision for this upcoming Friday, June 28. The fellow McDonogh School product who is a teammate of Brandon Finney is one of the top wide receiver targets for the Nittany Lions. 

He took his official visit to Penn State on June 7 and has since been projected to end up in Happy Valley by Sean Fitz of On3 and Brian Dohn of 247Sports.

Exinor is rated as the No. 9 prospect in Maryland and the No. 52 wide receiver (No. 341 recruit nationally) in On3’s Industry Rankings for the 2025 recruiting cycle. The 247Sports Composite slots Exinor as the state’s seventh-best recruit and the No. 11 athlete in the country (No. 273 nationally).

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