Penn State has added one of its most important remaining prospects in the 2027 class.
On Wednesday evening, three-star cornerback Dhillon McGee announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions, picking Penn State over Texas and SMU. His addition comes just weeks after two previously committed cornerbacks, Zachary Gleason and Semajay Robinson, switched their decisions to other programs.
However, it should be noted that McGee has always been position coach Terry Smith’s top target in the class. That’s why even after the Nittany Lions added four-star prospect Keishjuan Telfair in April, who was the fourth cornerback to commit at the time, Smith never let up on his pursuit of McGee.
While McGee ranks just outside of four-star territory at No. 447 nationally in the Industry Rankings, athletically, he’s arguably the most gifted player in this class. As a freshman, McGee grabbed the attention of coaches nationally when he ran the 100-meter in 10.64 seconds. He’s since posted a personal best of 10.51 seconds, making him undoubtedly the fastest player in this class and likely one of the fastest on Penn State’s roster when he joins the program next year.
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His speed, along with his length at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, are two major reasons why Penn State was one of more than 30 schools that extended offers to McGee throughout the process. Over the past two years, he primarily visited the top programs in Texas and Oklahoma. In fact, Penn State was the first out-of-region school that he visited. That took place last September for the White Out game against Oregon.
“The White Out was unreal,” McGee said at the time. “The energy, the noise, the music, it all hit different. The crowd really makes the whole atmosphere feel like one of the best in college football.”
Once Texas officially offered McGee in January, many expected the Longhorns to be the team to beat. SMU was also a serious contender, but Penn State’s commitment to recruiting him may have been the steadiest throughout the past 10 months. It was those efforts that earned the Nittany Lions a second visit in April and eventually an official visit last month. In the end, Texas and SMU also earned official visits, and it was Texas that proved to be Penn State’s main competitor.
Last season, McGee totaled 32 tackles and 15 pass breakups at Red Oak High School. He announced earlier this month that he’ll transfer to DeSoto High School for his senior season.
McGee is the third and likely final cornerback in this class, joining Telfair and New Jersey native Ka’ron Ceaser. He’s the ninth-ranked player in Penn State’s class, which is now up to 22 players and counting.
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