Penn State football is building 2025 recruiting class features one of the rarest prizes under head coach James Franklin.
A potential star from California.
It’s most recent addition is a national-energy jolt for a program that’s one of the steadiest in recruiting and developing talent, year after year — just not adept at landing the far-flung, highest-rated players who drive playoff programs like Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia.
Certainly, though, cornerback Daryus Dixon, who gave Penn State’s staff his pledge last week, qualifies. He’ll be the Nittany Lions’ first scholarship player from California in a decade (linebacker Koa Farmer was the last), as long as he does sign, as expected, in December.
Dixon is suddenly the top-rated recruit of Penn State’s growing 2025 class — one otherwise known for its underrated or at least under-evaluated prospects. It has recently surged back into the Top 15 nationally.
Dixon, an elite Top 100 national prospect (by 247Sports, ESPN, Rivals), will be entering his senior year at perennial power Mater Dei High. He joined the class immediately following a recruiting visit to State College.
“That’s massive. Just to get a foot in the door at Mater Dei … ,” Ryan Snyder, an On.3 Penn State recruiting analyst, said of Dixon’s commitment. “It’s massive because (Penn State’s staff) has been recruiting that area for a really long time and didn’t see the fruits of their labor.”
Dixon joins Pittsburgh cornerback Xxavier Thomas, who’s one of those midline, 3-star prospects who figures to rise in national recruiting rankings over the next several months, Snyder said. Same for another potential cornerback commit, Josh Johnson from Ironton, Ohio, who is reportedly high on Penn State.
Most in Penn State’s 14-member class are potential-filled prospects who profile as steady-climbers in recruiting rankings as they get more exposure at offseason camps and combines and then start their senior high school seasons.
Take Matt Henderson, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound tight end from Virginia. He committed to Penn State in early May with his other top scholarship offers from Maryland, Michigan State, Connecticut, Pitt, Richmond and Syracuse.
He won over the Nittany Lion coaches, in part, with a standout camp performance.
“They knew they always liked him,” Snyder said of Henderson. “It’s just that he was under the radar for a long time. And then he has this incredible workout during the spring and the more info that got out about him … it’s like, ‘Wow, this guy is an incredible athlete.'”
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Overall, the Penn State coaching staff “has done a good job turning over a bunch of stones and finding guys other schools really didn’t consider” in this current class, Snyder said.
Henderson compares favorably, at this point in his career, Snyder said, to current Penn State tight ends Luke Reynolds and Andrew Rappleyea, each among the most promising players on the entire roster.
Other recent verbal commitments with extensive upside include a streak of offensive players: 6-foot-3 receiver Lyrick Samuel, 6-foot-7 offensive tackle Owen Aliciene, quarterback Bekkem Kritza and running backs Tiqwai Hayes and Kiandrea Barker.
Hayes, at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, is “incredibly productive (at Aliquippa), fits well in the Big Ten,” Snyder said. “His career, been very consistent in everything he does. Because he doesn’t have flashy 40-yard times, and other things like, he’s not rated as highly yet.”
Barker’s recruitment was hurt because he did not play last year (transfer eligibility issue).
Kritza, at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, possesses intriguing upside with one of the more powerful, though, unpolished QB arms in the country. His recruiting also has been a wildcard: He’s played for high schools in his native Colorado, California and now Florida (Miami Central).
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
