Penn State football received a pleasant surprise over the weekend, with James Franklin and his staff able to get Alvin Henderson on campus for a previously unscheduled visit. By all accounts, the visit was a great success for the Nittany Lions. On Sunday, the top 10 running back in the 2025 recruiting cycle took to social media to tout his “all-around” great trip, and spoke to national recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong about his eye-opening experience in Happy Valley.
Alvin Henderson: Penn State visit “opened up my eyes a lot”
Elite 2025 running back Alvin Henderson had a slight change of plans this weekend, popping up in State College Friday to visit the Penn State football program. The trip, which wasn’t previously reported prior to Henderson posting about it on social media Friday, comes nearly two months ahead of his scheduled official visit to Happy Valley on May 31.
Although the Nittany Lions have two running backs committed in the 2025 recruiting cycle, James Franklin and his staff have pursued Henderson diligently, and for good reason. On3 has the four-star Elba (Alabama) prospect as the No. 7 running back in the 2025 recruiting class. As a junior, Henderson rushed for 3,523 yards and 61 touchdowns on 225 carries.
All signs point to success for the Nittany Lions coming off the weekend. Sunday morning, Alvin Henderson took to social media to recount the trip, writing, “Great all-around visit in State College this weekend.” The message was posted with pictures of James Franklin, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, and recruiting coordinator Khalil Ahmad.
Later in the day, Henderson spoke to Steve Wiltfong of On3 about the visit.
“This [weekend’s] visit to Penn State was big,” Henderson told Wiltfong, who posted a portion of his conversation on X/Twitter. “Opened up my eyes a lot! I took this visit because Coach [James] Franklin and Coach J [Seider] wanted me to come up because they know that I’m a huge priority to them and feel like I could come in and be a huge asset to the team!”
Who are the contenders for Henderson’s commitment?
While this weekend’s visit may have been eye-opening for Alvin Henderson, James Franklin and Penn State football still have plenty of work to do.
The Nittany Lions were one of five schools listed as finals by Henderson in March, along with Auburn, Florida State, Oregon, and Miami. The Elba prospect also visited one of those contenders, Miami, last week. He took a trip to Florida recently, as well.
And Penn State may have to work quickly to get Henderson in its class. The top 2025 running back was originally set to commit on Friday, so the Nittany Lions were at least successful in pushing back that date to squeeze in a visit.
But Henderson has been outspoken on his desire to commit soon, so it’s likely he may have his mind made up before his return trip to Happy Valley in May.
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