Michigan Football: Penn State eyes trio of Wolverines in-state recruits

Three in-state prospects are trending towards Penn State, which could be trouble for Michigan football with another key in-state target.

Even during a global pandemic, there never seems to be a slow day with Michigan football recruiting, and college football recruiting in general.

On-campus visits have been replaced with virtual ones, Facetime is being used to communicate with players instead of getting actual face time. But it doesn’t seem to have impacted the process tremendously and in the past weeks, Michigan has actually landed five commitments.

There was some hope that we would get some good news from four-star linebacker Jamari Buddin on Friday, however, all he did was release a top seven list that included Michigan football, as well as Penn State, which might be the chief contender.

https://twitter.com/jamaribuddin/status/1246180896274878464

The Nittany Lions were actually put one spot above the Wolverines in the image, but that might not mean anything. However, what could mean something to Buddin is the fact that Kobe King and Kalen King both appear set to commit to Penn State.

Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider put in crystal balls ($) for each brother to go to the Nittany Lions. They are set to announce April 10 and the Wolverines insider believes both will be going to Penn State.

As the No. 10 and 13 prospects in the state of Michigan according to the 247 sports composite rankings, that would hurt. However, it’s what Webb wrote about how their commitment to Penn State could impact the recruitment of Buddin which made me truly concerned.

Here’s what Webb said ($):

"That’s a blow to Michigan’s in-state effort, as both were/are prime targets for the Maize & Blue. (I don’t expect Michigan to just go away quietly if they pledge to PSU as expected). But the bigger concern at this point is the potential impact this could have on Jamari Buddin’s recruitment."

Jaylen Reed a four-star safety from Detroit also appears to be going to Penn State. All of his crystal balls are going to the Nittany Lions and there has been talk of a package deal with him and Buddin according to Webb.

That could be bad news for Michigan football, which still holds all of Buddin’s crystal balls. Yet, we know how quickly that could change. But either way, it’s concerning that three top Michigan recruits are near locks to commit to Penn State, which could mean another key target, Buddin could follow.

And losing Buddin would be a major blow.