Big-time defender joins Penn State football early: How Max Granville will play in 2024

Penn State football is getting a late bonus for its defensive line this fall.

High school senior-to-be Max Granville − one of the top-rated edge-rusher recruits in the country − has decided to reclassify and enroll in college a year early. He's already on campus and will join the Nittany Lions in preseason camp next week, according to Penn State officials.

Granville (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) was a hotly-pursued 4-star recruit from Sugar Land, Texas. Penn State and defensive line coach Deion Barnes were surprised by getting his verbal commitment just a month ago over longer-term favorites like Oklahoma, Texas A&M and USC.

He now joins fellow true freshmen edge rushers Mylachi Williams (Drexel Hill, Pa.) and Jaylen Harvey and Xavier Gilliams, both from Quince Orchard High in Gaithersburg, Md. Penn State's defensive end group is arguably the deepest and most talented on the roster even after losing Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac in the first three rounds of April's NFL Draft.

The Nittany Lions' depth chart at edge rusher includes All-Big Ten performers Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, rising-star sophomore Jamieal Lyons and seniors Amin Vanover, Smith Vilbert and Zuriah Fisher (injured).

Penn State football: How highly rated is Max Granville?

Granville was rated as a top 25 edge rusher nationally and a top 30 overall prospect in Texas, according to sites like 247Sports . He also excelled in basketball and track and field in the shotput, hurdles, high jump and as a relay runner.

He leaves Penn State's Top 20 recruiting class of 2025 that also has verbal commitments from 4-star Kansas edge rusher Jayden Woods and 3-star Maryland edge rusher Cortez Harris.

Granville hails from a high-end athletic family. His father, Billy, played football at Duke and his brother, Zion, is a linebacker at Illinois State. His mother played volleyball at North Carolina State.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Big-time defender joins Penn State football early: How Max Granville will play in 2024