UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Head coach James Franklin add to the 2019 Penn State Football recruiting class today during the Signing Day celebration in the Lasch Football Building. Penn State's Class of 2019 is ranked 11th nationally by 247Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals, as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions added four student-athletes on the first day of the February signing period – Joseph Appiah Darkwa, Daequan Hardy, TJ Jones and Smith Vilbert.
Penn State welcomed 19 student-athletes, who signed National Letters of Intent to join the football program during the December period. Eleven of the signees were early enrollees and joined the Nittany Lions in January – Noah Cain, Lance Dixon, Keaton Ellis, Adisa Isaac, Michael Johnson Jr., Ta'Quan Roberson, Tyler Rudolph, Brandon Smith, Brenton Strange, Anthony Whigan and Marquis Wilson.
The newest group of Nittany Lions have an average star ranking of 3.83, which is the highest for the Penn State program since Rivals started recruiting rankings in 2002. The average star ranking for the last four years under Franklin has been 3.61.
The Nittany Lions signed three recruits who were the No. 1 recruit in their respective states across at least one of the three recruiting services – Adisa Isaac (New York – consensus), Brandon Smith (Virginia – 247Sports, ESPN), Saleem Wormley (Delaware – consensus).
Penn State again found success in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions with 11 players coming from within a 250-mile radius of State College. Penn State also had a national and international reach with four signees coming from more than 1,000 miles away from State College. The Nittany Lions' class lay claim to hometowns in 13 different states and countries. Penn State had three signees from Penn State, New Jersey and Virginia, two each from Connecticut, Florida, Maryland and New York and one apiece from California, Michigan, Oregon, Louisiana, West Virginia and Germany.
The Class of 2019 features 10 offensive signees, 12 defensive recruits and one athlete. There are four players who have won at least one State Championship, five Under Amour All-Americans, two All-American Bowl selections, three Polynesian Bowl selections and one Gatorade State Player of the Year. Additionally, 20 of the signees served as their team captain during their high school career.
The newest class of Nittany Lions features 18 recruits with four stars or more, including two five-star prospect (Dixon, Smith). According to the 247Sports Composite, the 18 four-star signees are the most since rankings begin in 2002. Penn State has had 64 four- or five-star recruits in the last four classes (112 total commits) as compared to 16 four- or five-star recruits in the previous four classes (81 total commits).
Smith is the eighth-highest rated recruit since 2000 per the 247Sports Composite. Seven of Penn State's 15 highest-ranked recruits in program history have come under James Franklin.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new season tickets for the 2019 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m-4:30 p.m.
More than 2,250 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2019 campaign.
Penn State Football Class of 2019
Joseph Appiah Darkwa
DT | Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | Private Don Bosco Gymnasium | Coach: Allan Verbraeken | 6-5, 272
Hakeem Beamon
DT | Midlothian, Va. | Manchester High School | HS Coach: Tom Hall | 6-3, 259
Jaquan Brisker
S | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Gateway High School/Lackawanna Community College | CC Coach: Mark Duda | 6-1, 190
Noah Cain
RB | Baton Rouge, La. | IMG Academy (Fla.) | HS Coach: Kevin Wright | 5-10, 209
Lance Dixon
LB | West Bloomfield, Mich. | West Bloomfield High School | HS Coach: Ron Bellamy | 6-1, 205
John Dunmore
WR | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Chaminade-Madonna College Prep | HS Coach: Dameon Jones | 6-1, 180
Dvon Ellies
DT | Burtonsville, Md. | McDonogh School | HS Coach: Hakeem Sule | 6-1, 288
Keaton Ellis
CB | State College, Pa. | State College Area High School | HS Coach: Matt Lintal | 5-11, 177
Devyn Ford
RB | Stafford, Va. | North Stafford High School | HS Coach: Joe Mangano | 5-11, 188
Daequan Hardy
ATH | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Penn Hills High School | HS Coach: Jon LeDonne | 5-9, 160
Adisa Isaac
DE | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Canarsie High School | HS Coach: Brian Ellis | 6-4, 220
Michael Johnson Jr.
QB | Eugene, Ore. | Sheldon High School | HS Coach: Josh Line | 6-2, 197
TJ Jones
WR | Lake City, Fla. | Columbia High School | HS Coach: Brian Allen | 5-11, 191
Joey Porter Jr.
CB | Bakersfield, Calif. | North Allegheny (Pa.) High School | HS Coach: Art Walker | 6-1, 185
Ta'Quan Roberson
QB | Orange, N.J. | DePaul Catholic High School | HS Coach: John McKenna | 5-11, 193
Tyler Rudolph
CB | Oakdale, Conn. | St. Thomas More School | HS Coach: Jeff Moore | 5-11, 200
Brandon Smith
LB | Louisa, Va. | Louisa County High School | HS Coach: Will Patrick | 6-3, 225
Brenton Strange
TE/H | Parkersburg, W.Va. | Parkersburg High School | HS Coach: Mike Byus | 6-4, 214
Smith Vilbert
DE | Spring Valley, N.Y. | St. Joseph's Regional (N.J.) High School | HS Coach: Augie Hoffman | 6-5, 243
Caedan Wallace
OL | Robbinsville, N.J. | The Hun School | HS Coach: Todd Smith | 6-5, 291
Anthony Whigan
OL | Lexington Park, Md. | Great Mills High School/Lackawanna Community College | CC Coach: Mark Duda | 6-4, 292
Marquis Wilson
CB | Windsor, Conn. | Windsor High School | HS Coach: Rob Fleeting | 5-11, 167
Saleem Wormley
OL | Newark, N.J. | Smyrna (Del.) High School | HS Coach: Mike Judy | 6-3, 311
