Fact or Fiction: Allegations will impact Penn State's recruiting efforts
Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Richie O’Leary of HappyValleyInsider.com and national recruiting analyst Greg Smith to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. If we rated the 2025 class like the NCAA Football video game, more than half the current five-stars would get a 99 rating.
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Friedman: FACT. There are some absolute dudes in the 2025 class with a five-star rating already and at least half of them would get a 99 rating from me if they were rated like the video game. The top two quarterbacks, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and at least three of the skill position five-stars would be deserving of that lofty rating right now. The other five-stars are just a hair behind them in my book. Any player who dominates on the field and has an incredibly high ceiling would get a 99 rating from me and at least half of the current five-stars in the 2025 class fit that description.
Gorney: FICTION. There are many legitimate five-stars in the 2025 class but after about the top 10 or top 11 a lot of arguments could be made for other players getting bumped up into five-star status and, quite honestly, some others being slotted down to four-stars. If a 99 rating is a sure-fire elite player who is unstoppable and separates himself from the pack in distinctive ways, I'm not sure I see that with the top group in the 2025 class - yet.
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2. Allegations that James Franklin interfered in team medical decisions will hurt Penn State's recruiting efforts.
© Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Friedman: FICTION. James Franklin and the Nittany Lions have come under fire yet again thanks to testimony from a former doctor employed by the university. The lawsuit isn't directly aimed at Franklin but the details call into question some of his actions. It certainly doesn't paint Franklin in the best light but it would be shocking to see any impact on their recruiting efforts moving forward. With many important visits set to take place over the next few weeks, Franklin may have to answer a few questions from parents but the strong relationships the staff has already built with their top targets should be able to overcome any doubts that this recent news may have brought up.
O’Leary: FICTION. This is just the same lawsuit that has been going on for years and continues to accomplish literally nothing. The lawsuit stems from former Penn State Director of Athletic Medicine, Dr. Scott Lynch who’s claiming he was wrongfully terminated by the university. However both James Franklin and PSU Athletics have already been dropped from the lawsuit. Not to mention the latest part of the lawsuit was blaming Penn State for ankle taping over the Nike logo on players cleats, which is borderline insane.
Regardless, I don’t see this effecting the Nittany Lions at all on the recruiting trail as they continue to be in it with several highly ranked kids and currently boast the No. 8 overall recruiting class with several other top targets still on the board. Look for Penn State to close on some of those top targets over the next few weeks as they have four jam-packed official visit weekends coming up.
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3. Immanuel Iheanacho will end up the top-ranked offensive lineman in the 2026 Rivals250.
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Friedman: FICTION. Seeing Immanuel Iheanacho this past weekend was enlightening after studying his film from this past season. The massive offensive lineman has yet to really work on position-specific technique training so it’s hard to project what his game will look like moving forward. That being said, his performance this past weekend was really outstanding and he will be a huge riser in the next rankings update.
Could he be the No. 1 offensive lineman in the Rivals250? It’s hard to really say but I lean towards no right now. That could change based on the technical improvement Iheanacho shows going forward but his body type points towards him eventually playing right tackle or moving to guard in college or the NFL. Generally, top-ranked offensive linemen have elite pass blocking abilities and project as left tackles at the next level and beyond. Right now, Jackson Cantwell, Keenyi Pepe, and others fit that description better than Iheanacho.
Smith: FICTION. This is going to be a question that rages on throughout the recruiting cycle. Both are super prospects on the offensive line. Iheanacho certainly looks the part standing at 6-foot-7, 340 pounds. Seeing him on film and in photos it's hard to believe he weighs that much because he carries it so well. He also moves well and is just scratching the surface of his potential.
However, I believe that Nixa (Mo.) High five-star Jackson Cantwell will hold on to the spot. We don’t see Cantwell as much during the camp season because he’s focused on track and he doesn’t play great competition during football season. So before he graduates high school it’d be great to see him against elite football competition.
But he’s an explosive athlete that has put up huge numbers in shot during his track season. He set a sophomore national record in shot by two feet this month. Cantwell has all the tools necessary to one day be a high NFL Draft selection.
This is likely not the last time we have this discussion.
