Penn State Football: Eleven New Faces Set To Enroll Early This January

James Franklin and his staff announced Wednesday evening that 11 players will enroll early at Penn State this January to get a jumpstart on their careers both athletically and academically.

‘I thought we had a good day,’ Franklin said at his Signing Day press conference earlier. ‘You know, really, kind of the way our recruiting operation is built, we really don’t want drama. So you know, for us, we want to build strong relationships with parents, with high school coaches, with prospects, try to get them to jump on board early, and then, you know, not waiver, because they are very comfortable with their decision.’

‘For the most part, that’s how things go for us when you look nationally, how — how those things usually go and how it usually goes for us. We usually stick to that plan. We usually don’t have a whole lot of drama. I think when you get older, you want to eliminate as much drama from your life as possible and that’s what we try to do even if recruiting.’

Penn State will see a little bit of everything on campus next month with both newly signed quarterbacks heading to State College as well as six different defensive players including linebacker standout Brandon Smith.

The Nittany Lions will also welcome Noah Cain who committed to the program on Wednesday morning.

Offensive early enrollees:

• Brenton Strange (TE)
• Noah Cain (RB)
• Michael Johnson Jr (QB)
• Ta’Quan Roberson (QB)
• Anthony Whigan (OL)

Defensive early enrollees: 

• Brandon Smith (LB)
• Lance Dixon (LB)
• Tyler Rudolph (CB)
• Marquis Wilson (CB)
• Keaton Ellis (CB)
• Adisa Isaac (DE)