Penn State Football Hosting Ohio State 4-Star Commit on Official Visit

Potentially some big news for Penn State football as they’re currently hosting an elite recruit from a rival program.

Nittany Sports Now has confirmed that Ohio State 4-star DE commit Zahir Mathis is currently at State College starting his official visit to Penn State.

Mathis attends Imhotep Charter Institute in Philadelphia and is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania and the No. 35 overall in the country for the Class of 2025.

This news definitely comes as a surprise as Mathis has been committed to Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes since January 10, 2024. Former Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. has been the lead recruiter for Mathis.

Mathis isn’t the only player from Imhotep Institute at Penn State this weekend as elite 4-star running back Jabree Coleman is also on an official visit.

Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently has 16 verbal commitments: however, they’re looking for their first defensive end. It goes without saying that possibly adding a talent like Mathis would be a noteworthy addition and would bring another highly skilled defensive player to defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s unit.

It will be interesting to hear from Mathis as to what led him to want to make an official visit considering he’s been committed to Ohio State for over 6 months.

Something else to keep in mind is that Mathis has yet to make his official visit to Columbus.

This is no doubt an interesting time for Penn State football recruiting as it’s no doubt experienced some recent peaks and valleys.

The highs have been receiving commitments from two 4-star cornerbacks in Jahmir Joseph from New Jersey and Daryus Dixson, Jr. from California.

However, last night a report surfaced that wasn’t good news as On3’s Chad Simmons and Steve Wiltfong are forecasting that highly rated 4-star running back Alvin Henderson will flip to Auburn.

If that were to happen, it would obviously be a big loss, but the blow could be softened if Mathis decides to flip to Penn State.

All this really tells you is that despite the verbal, no recruit for any program is truly 100% committed until Signing Day.