Penn State Loses Out on Five-Star Recruit Immanuel Iheanacho originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The second overall ranked offensive lineman by ESPN, Immanuel Iheanacho, who was suppose to make his college decison on August 5 instead made his decision a month early on July 3. In a list of his final four schools Oregon, Penn State, LSU, and Auburn, he opted to become a Duck. This is a huge win for Dan Lanning and company and another big recruiting loss for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions.
BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT Immanuel Iheanacho has Committed to Oregon, he tells me for @rivals
The 6’7 365 OT chose the Ducks over LSU, Penn State, & Auburn
“All Glory to the most high, Duck Nation I’m ready to get to work! #CallGod”https://t.co/GQmSKWFLoPpic.twitter.com/Kb7mGsceu7
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 3, 2025
Iheanacho is listed at 6’7″ 350 lbs. ESPN ranks him as the 13th overall recruit in the class of 2026. It seemed that he was bonding with the Ducks’ staff well, and at a more personable level than other colleges, which may have played into his decision.
“I was talking to coach Lanning about a month ago about prom. I can’t talk to every coach about prom. That is not something every coach can do,” Iheanacho said to 247sports.
James Franklin and Penn State’s pitch to try to secure Iheanacho feels that it may have been centered around location. A car ride to Penn State from the current high school Iheanacho plays at is a little over a three hour drive to campus. A car drive to Oregon’s campus is 42 hours.
Iheanacho mentioned how his parents would be able to see every game he played if he declared to be a Nittany Lion, and how he liked the plan they laid out for him as a player. But it is now clear he valued what Oregon had to offer more.
With a few recent big 2026 recruiting misses for Penn State, if they were able to land Iheanacho a lot of that disappointment from other prospects going elsewhere would dissipate. Instead now the disappointment grows for Penn State.
In the past month Penn State have also lost out on a number of 2026 recruits: Joey O’brien (fives-star defensive back, committed to Notre Dame), Peyton Falzone (four-star quarterback, flipped commitment to Auburn), Khary Adams (four-star defensive back, committed to Notre Dame), and Grayson McKeogh (five-star offensive lineman, committed to Notre Dame). McKeogh, Adams, and O’Brein all had Penn State in their final list of choices prior to their official commitments.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.