Penn State lands another major four-star commit to 2018 recruiting class

James Franklin continues to work magic on his 2018 recruiting class.

On Thursday morning, Penn State landed its 17th commitment with a four-star rating or higher as defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins gave his verbal pledge to the Nittany Lions.

Penn State landed four-star DT Aeneas Hawkins. That makes 17 commits ranked as a four-star or higher.

— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) August 10, 2017

Hawkins – a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive lineman – was once expected to stay in his hometown and commit to Cincinnati. But the Nittany Lions were able to nab the four-star Ohio native just before the 2017 season kicks off.

He is now the 23rd commit of Penn State’s 2018 class.

Prior to his commitment on Thursday, Hawkins accumulated 34 offers, according to 247Sports. He had offers from more than half of B1G programs, including Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State.

The Nittany Lions held the No. 4 ranked recruiting class prior to Hawkins’ commitment. Adding him to the mix could boost Penn State even higher in the rankings shortly.

Penn State is currently behind only Ohio State in B1G recruiting for 2018.