Penn State football: Priority in-state TE target picks up 3rd SEC offer this week

Penn State football is riding a swell of momentum in the 2025 recruiting cycle, picking up five commitments since the start of January. The Nittany Lions are now making a push for the top in-state prospects still on the board, looking to keep Pennsylvania’s best in the Keystone State. But the competition for the commonwealth’s top TE got thicker this week, as Southern Lehigh’s Andrew Olesh added three offers from leading SEC programs. Does James Franklin and his staff have what it takes to keep this budding recruit home?

Penn State football target Andrew Olesh picks up third SEC offer of the week

Four-star TE Andrew Olesh has had an extremely fruitful start to 2024. The top TE in Pennsylvania for the 2025 recruiting cycle, Olesh has picked up 15 power conference offers over the last six weeks, including one from Penn State football during his junior day visit on January 20.

But over the last week, the Southern Lehigh product has garnered much attention from the Southeastern Conference. Andrew Olesh has picked up three SEC offers in the past week, with the most recent coming from Alabama on Tuesday. Olesh also received offers from Tennessee on February 21 and Missouri on February 23.

After a great conversation with @BryanEllisUA, I’m excited to announce that I’ve received an offer from the University of Alabama! @_ColeThomas @RivalsFriedman @RivalsRichie @tyler_calvaruso @BrianDohn247 @MohrRecruiting @adamgorney pic.twitter.com/j1ZtD4Z8So

— Andrew Olesh (@a_olesh8) February 28, 2024

After announcing an offer from Colorado Wednesday afternoon, Olesh’s offer list is officially at 25 programs, including four Big Ten, five SEC, and seven ACC schools. Olesh received a boost in this week’s updated On3 rankings, rising to the No. 87 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle after previously being outside the top 300.

And the top five TE in the 2025 class plans to make the rounds this spring. Tweeted out by Sean Fitz of On3 Wednesday, Olesh already has six visits lined up for the next two months, including one with Penn State football on April 4. He is set to see three SEC schools — Alabama, Ole Miss, and Florida — as well as Ohio State and Miami.

How are the Nittany Lions faring with Pennsylvania’s other top prospects?

James Franklin has long emphasized the importance of in-state recruiting, and will look to keep Pennsylvania’s top prospects home once again in the 2025 recruiting cycle. This month, Penn State football locked down Alex Tatsch and Dayshaun Burnett, two of the Keystone State’s best LBs in what is already a stacked class at the position for the Nittany Lions.

A key prospect to watch moving forward is QB Matt Zollers. Zollers’ stock is rapidly on the rise, now the No. 3 QB in 2025, according to On3. He has been to campus six times already, but you can imagine that James Franklin and the Nittany Lions will want to get him back to Happy Valley this spring.

Penn State football is also still pushing for some of the state’s other top players at their respective positions. This includes Susquehanna Township WR Lex Cyrus, as well as Central Bucks East IOL — and Nittany Lion legacy — Michael Carroll.

But it hasn’t been a complete success for James Franklin on the home front in 2025. DE Zahir Mathis, rated by three of the four recruiting services as Pennsylvania’s top prospect, committed to Ohio State in January. Manny Diaz and Duke secured St. Joseph’s Prep LB Cam Smith earlier in February, while his teammate Anthony Sacca excluded Penn State from his list of top programs, as well.

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