One of Penn State’s recent commitments in the Class of 2027 says he embraced the pressure of being recruited. Jamir Dean, a three-star wide receiver out of Tennessee, committed to the Nittany Lions earlier this month, and he said in a profile by the Knoxville News that stress can be a good motivator for him.
“Recruitment picked up a lot this year,” he recently said to Knoxville News Sentinel (subscription required). “At some points, it got real stressful. I wanted it to be stressful; it’s really a good thing. You only go through the process one time.”
Penn State received a scholarship offer from Penn State head coach Matt Campbell and wide receivers coach Kashif Moore in February. Just a few months later, Dean felt comfortable enough to give the Nittany Lions his verbal commitment, choosing Penn State over offers on the table from programs like Wisconsin, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Minnesota, Wake Forest, and more. Even after committing, Dean has added a few more offers to his collection, including one from Georgia.
But it was a relationship with Moore that helped Dean come to the decision to commit to the Nittany Lions when he did.
“Coach (Moore) just kept it 100,” Dean said. “It just felt different with Penn State… I didn’t even expect myself to commit this early. I took a visit two months ago. It just felt like home. I told my mom and dad I wanted to make the decision.”
Of course, no commitment is ever truly safe for Penn State or any other school until the signing period comes around, beginning in December, so Penn State may still have some work to do to ensure this commitment does not slip away. Dean expects schools to continue reaching out to him in the meantime, which is to be expected.
See the fully updated list of Penn State’s Class of 2027, including Dean.
Kevin McGuire is the lead writer for Nittany Lions Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on BlueSky, Threads or any of these other platforms.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State WR commit Jamir Dean says he welcomed recruiting pressure