Sting Factor: Tyreese Fearbry's decommitment from Penn State
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Defensive end is a priority position for Penn State’s recruiting efforts this recruiting cycle and the Nittany Lions are off to a fantastic start with five-star Dani Dennis-Sutton and four-stars Zane Durant and Ken Talley on board.
But after only being committed to the Nittany Lions for 25 days, four-star Tyreese Fearbry decided to reopen his recruitment in late July.
The Pittsburgh (Pa.) Perry Traditional Academy standout was back at Penn State just days after decommitting for the big summer recruiting event there but the feeling now is that Pitt is in much better shape in his recruitment.
Fearbry is a versatile and athletic edge rusher and those players can never be accumulated enough on a roster.
Penn State has been doing well with in-state recruiting in 2021 with RB Nicholas Singleton, ATH Mehki Flowers, Talley and WR Anthony Ivey leading the way. Keeping Fearbry in the class would have been huge for the Lions’ defensive efforts but it could hurt especially if he ends up signing with Pitt.
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LOCAL REACTION
"Fearbry’s decommitment hurts because defensive end is a key position this year for the Lions and the staff loves his potential. They’ve also been dominant in Pennsylvania this year and don’t want to lose anyone to Pitt, which is the other school he’s seriously considering.
"The good news for Penn State is that he returned to State College on Saturday to attend the Lasch Bash Barbecue, just two days after decommitting, so James Franklin and his staff are still very much in the mix. I would expect him to keep visiting Penn State and Pitt throughout the season." - Ryan Snyder, BlueWhiteIllustrated.com
Sting factor: 6
NATIONAL REACTION
"Penn State needed to load up with defensive ends in this class and that’s exactly what the Nittany Lions have done so far as Dennis-Sutton is a game-changer type at the position and other four-stars could have instant impacts as well. Keeping Fearbry in this class would have been some icing on the cake but it’s also not a catastrophic loss for two reasons: He might rejoin the Penn State class and if not, he will probably end up at Pitt and the Lions don’t have to deal with him during Big Ten play.
"Having Fearbry would have been very nice but Penn State can go shopping for another talented defensive end. So I don’t think this is a serious loss at this point.” - Adam Gorney, Rivals National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 5