Rivals released its first rendition of the top 250 prospects for the Class of 2023 Tuesday and as expected, the Nittany Lions find themselves seriously in the mix with many of the East Coast's top players.
Although the Mid-Atlantic region is down a bit in terms of overall talent, most of those who do rank high found their way to campus this summer. Out of the 13 players listed below, 10 of them took at least one unofficial visit to Penn State in June or July.
BWI's Ryan Snyder breaks down some of the key players fans have to follow closely this fall and into the 2023 cycle.
Link: Where does PSU stand with top defensive prospects in Rivals250?
No. 29 - OL Chase Bistonis
Schools: Penn State, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Boston College, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, W. Virginia, Wisconsin
The Latest - Bistonis' interest in Penn State became clear in Sept. 2020 when he took a self-guided tour of campus while the NCAA dead period was still in effect. He told us at the time that Penn State was always a school he grew up watching closely, and although he has plenty of additional offers now, we do expect the Nittany Lions to be among his top five or so schools when the time comes.
This summer, Bistonis took a handful of visits, beginning with Notre Dame on June 6. He then went to Rutgers on June 12 before going to Penn State the next day. Ohio State then hosted him for a camp on June 15, while Alabama got him on campus June 18.
Following his trip to Penn State, Bistonis informed us that his relationship with Phil Trautwein is one of the best he's formed with any assistant coach so far.
“Coach Trautwein was my first offer when he was at Boston College still, so me and him have been building a relationship for awhile now,” he said. “He’s just a cool dude, for sure. I feel I relate with him well.”
Bistontis added that he's aiming to attend the game against Auburn on Sept. 18.
No. 35 -QB Dante Moore
Schools: Penn State, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pitt, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, West Virginia
The Latest - Moore is arguably Penn State's top quarterback target in the Class of 2023. He picked up an offer from the Nittany Lions almost a year ago and had a strong relationship with former safeties coach Tim Banks. Of course, he's now the defensive coordinator at Tennessee, so that'll likely hurt Penn State's chances here.
With that said, Moore did visit Penn State this summer, attending the Lasch Bash Barbecue on July 31. He also attended a mini-camp with the staff that morning, which gave Mike Yurcich an opportunity to see him throw up-close. Although he didn't test for the staff that day, we were told that they liked what they saw.
"Knowing how many Detroit guys are there is real huge for them," Moore said following his visit. "I’m really going to take that into consideration. But overall, I loved it. I loved the coaching staff. Coach Yurcich is even better in person. I love his energy.”
Moore won't be an easy pull, especially without Banks on the staff anymore, but there's reason to believe that the Nittany Lions can crack his top five and potentially get an official visit next spring or summer.
Right now, it feels like Michigan and Notre Dame hold an edge.
No. 56 - OL Alex Birchmeier
Schools: Committed to Penn State
The Latest - There's not much to report here, and that's a good thing for the Nittany Lions, as Birchmeier committed to James Franklin and his staff last month. He's been Trautwein's top interior prospect for basically a year now, and nothing about his personality suggests that he'll be someone to look around and visit other schools this fall.
Penn State got themselves an excellent offensive lineman here.
“I wanted to do this now because I want to be a leader in this class. That’s important to me,” Birchmeier said following his commitment in July. “I want to take on that role and I think I can help make this class even better than their 2022 class now. But also, I’ve been recruited by them for a while now. I’ve built great relationships with everyone up there, so I just felt like this was the time to make it happen.”
