Penn State football steady in recruiting rankings after latest pledge

The Penn State football program maintained its place among the most robust recruiting classes for the 2027 cycle with its latest addition Thursday afternoon. Chukwuma Odoh, a 6-foot, 220-pound running back out of Paramus Catholic, became the second verbal commitment of the week for the Nittany Lions.

Odoh joined fellow running back Aiden Gibson, who made his pledge to bolster the Nittany Lions’ Class of 2027 on Tuesday. With the addition, the group expanded to include 17 commitments overall. On the national recruiting landscape, Penn State’s 17 total pledges trail only Oklahoma, which leads the cycle with 21, and UCLA, which sits just ahead of the Nittany Lions with 18 commitments.

Odoh carries a Rivals Industry Ranking of No. 809 nationally with a three-star rating. He’s considered the No. 71 running back in the Class of 2027 and is slotted 25th in New Jersey for the cycle.

Finding his fit at Penn State and within the coaching plan presented by Campbell and running backs coach Savon Huggins, Odoh relayed to BWI what led to his decision.

“He has a very extensive resume with what he has done in his past and he has a lot of plans for the future of Penn State,” said Odoh. “I also met with Coach Huggins where he told me what he likes in a running back then he showed me how I fit that. He really showed me how much I’m wanted.”

Converting that pursuit into a commitment, Odoh chose the Nittany Lions over offers from Auburn, Duke, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State and Wisconsin, among others.

Penn State steady in updated team rankings

With the latest pickup for the Nittany Lions, the updated Class of 2027 Rivals Football Team Recruiting Rankings remain unchanged. Penn State entered the day at No. 14 with an overall team score of 90.152, where it remains following the pledge.

A rankings system designed to continuously reflect the moving barometer of national class size, the Rivals Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings currently use eight commitments in their formula. As a three-star prospect, Odoh is considered the 14th-best prospect in the class.

That places him just behind three-star cornerback Ka’ron Ceaser and ahead of 6-foot-7 offensive tackle Ryan Robbins.

Along with combining the individual player and team rankings from the major recruiting sites, the system compiles each school’s highest-rated commitments to create a rolling average among Power Five programs.

Also unique to the system, the team rankings eliminate bonus points for having more commitments than other programs, reducing the built-in advantages of significantly larger class sizes. The model doesn’t disproportionately weight a program’s handful of top commitments and more appropriately represents the overall talent and depth of a class.

Scouting the Big Ten recruiting landscape

Within the Big Ten landscape, Penn State remains behind Southern Cal, which sits atop the conference’s national rankings at No. 4 overall. The Trojans are followed by Ohio State at No. 8, Oregon at No. 9 and UCLA at No. 11 before the Nittany Lions at No. 14.

Behind Penn State in the Big Ten are Michigan at No. 15, Nebraska at No. 17, Washington at No. 18 and Wisconsin at No. 24 among teams currently placed in the Top 25.

Sandwiched around Penn State in the national rankings are Georgia at No. 13 and Michigan at No. 15.

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