Last month, Penn State scored a big recruiting victory when four-star defensive end Max Granville chose to play for the Nittany Lions. Granville went ahead and took action on Thursday.
Granville signed with Penn State after reclassifying into the 2024 recruiting class, the program said. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound edge rusher may play in the 2024 season after reporting to the Nittany Lions at training camp the following week.
Granville choose the Nittany Lions against strong attention from Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and several southern institutions. Granville is one of Penn State’s top defensive targets in the 2025 cycle. In addition, he had offers from Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and Michigan.
James Franklin, defensive line coach Deion Barnes, and the rest of the staff considered Granville to be a major acquisition. According to ESPN, Granville rated as high as the 109th overall talent in the class. He was listed as a defensive end by some recruiting sites and a linebacker by others. Granville is a talented player off the edge, therefore it would be surprising if he wasn’t a defensive end.
Granville is not an absolute necessity for Penn State in 2024. Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton of the Nittany Lions are primed for successful seasons. In addition, Barnes possesses Smith Vilbert, Jameial Lyons, and Amin Vanover as rotating possibilities. Zuriah Fisher is sidelined “indefinitely” after suffering a major injury in the spring, although he may play again this year.
As of right present, Penn State’s recruiting class for 2025 has 21 pledges.