Penn State surprises Maryland cornerback with scholarship offer on junior day
Penn State became the second Big Ten school to extend an offer to a cornerback on the radar in some familiar recruiting territory. Following a visit for a junior day event, cornerback Aydan West received a scholarship offer from Penn State, and it was not one he saw coming.
“I was actually caught off guard because we had just taken a picture,” West explained to 247Sports on Saturday. “[Penn State head coach James Franklin] turns to me and my parents and says ‘You are the next guy.’ It was a memorable moment.”
West is a 6′-0″ 165-pound cornerback from Gaithersburg, MD, where he played for Quince Orchard, the same school that has developed Penn State Class of 2024 commits Jaylen Harvey and Xavier Gilliam. It is also the same school that produced Chop Robinson, who transferred from Maryland to Penn State and is now a potential first-round NFL draft pick. He will certainly be a player worth paying attention to in the recruiting cycle as more offers and interest come in for the potentially rising cornerback. Penn State has a good history of recruiting in the state of Maryland, so they figured to be one of the bigger programs with an early eye on West, along with Maryland.
Aydan West is not currently rated by 247Sports but he does have a three-star rating from On3. On3 ranks West as the no. 65 cornerback in the nation and the no. 21 player overall from the state of Maryland. Rivals also rates West as a three-star recruit right now with a no. 30 overall rating in Maryland.
Perhaps not too surprisingly, Maryland is an early contender for West’s commitment as the hometown favorite. The On3 recruiting prediction machine currently gives the Terrapins a 20.7% chance of winning his commitment, but Penn State is second in the early calculations with a 18.1% chance of obtaining the commitment. West Virginia (15.5%) and Marshall (12.9%) are also early contenders according to On3’s calculations, although it should be noted this can change dramatically very quickly.
Among the offers already in for West in addition to Penn State are Maryland, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Boston College. Penn State and Maryland are the only Big Ten offers in for West at the moment.
Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently consists of seven commits and ranks no. 8 in the nation early on in the recruiting cycle according to the updated 247Sports team rankings. On3 ranks Penn State at no. 12 in their updated Class of 2025 team rankings.
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