Penn State comes up short after surprising Taz Williams Jr. commitment

After it looked like Penn State was making a strong push to land a key wide receiver out of Texas in the Class of 2025, the Nittany Lions were left shaking their heads after Taz Williams Jr. announced his commitment. Williams announced his commitment in a press conference at his high school in Texas, and Penn State was hoping to hear some good news.

Instead, Williams announced his commitment to the Baylor Bears, who made an even stronger late push for his commitment. And just like that, Penn State missed out on a key receiver recruiting target to another program for the second time this week .

Taz Williams is rated as a four-star wide receiver by Rivals and ESPN and a three-star recruit by 247Sports and On3. The composite and industry rankings from 247Sports and On3 each give Williams a fourth star in their recruiting profiles.

Michigan seemingly held the edge in his recruitment before Penn State seemingly made a big push in recent weeks. But in the hours leading up to his commitment announcement, word was swirling that Baylor was coming in hot with a massive NIL package for the Texas native. Texas A&M and SMU were other programs in the mix until recently. Baylor was a name that came out of nowhere in the final days.

Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently ranks no. 9 according to 247Sports, although it will be interesting to see how this weekend’s recruiting headlines impact those rankings in the coming days.

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