Penn State looking to close with top in-state 2024 recruit during major weekend

Today is a big day for the Penn State football program; finally, after months of waiting, the Nittany Lions will take the field at Beaver Stadium for the first time since their 35-16 victory over the Michigan State Spartans last November. With this monumental day comes a lot of fanfare, and, more importantly, some significant recruits are visiting the program, including Kevin Heywood, who is ranked as a top-5 recruit in Pennsylvania.

Penn State football looking to close with top-5 recruit in Pennsylvania during Blue/White weekend

Kevin Heywood, one of the top-ranked players in the nation and a top-5 recruit in Pennsylvania — is one of the Nittany Lions’ top offensive line targets in the 2024 recruiting class. He is currently favored to choose Penn State football all said and done with three crystal balls on 247 Sports and a 96.6% chance, according to On3’s Prediction Machine. Even Heywood himself states that he is high on the Nittany Lions.

“I love him,” Heywood said, referring to Phil Trautwein, Penn State’s offensive line coach (On3). “I talk to him almost everyday. He’s a great guy and he really helped improve their O-line. I thought they looked powerful this year. They looked good.”

Ratings and rankings

According to On3’s industry rankings, Kevin Heywood is a top 300 player nationally (257) and is ranked as the No. 19 offensive tackle and No. 4 player in the state of Pennsylvania. He is an industry four-star recruit and is being pursued by several top schools, such as Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, and more. Heywood is coming off of an unofficial visit to Alabama a week ago, and this weekend will be his 6th total visit to State College — the Nittany Lions have a perfect opportunity to close down his recruitment and lock in a 9th commitment in the cycle.

So far, according to 247 Sports, Penn State football has a top 10 class (No. 8) with eight commits thus far: six four-stars and two three-stars. The Nittany Lions still trail the Michigan Wolverines (3) and Ohio State Buckeyes (2) in the 2024 recruiting rankings, though it is still close, and there is plenty more time in the cycle.

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