PA’s best TE recruit takes over crucial Michigan OV

This weekend concludes the official visits before the start of the summer break. While James Franklin and Penn State football are busy with their own campus, 400 miles away, one of the Nittany Lions Southern Lehigh tight end Andrew Olesh, one of the top remaining targets in the 2025 recruiting cycle, is on his official visit with the Michigan Wolverines.

Olesh has been high on the Nittany Lions’ big list for some time now and is the third-best recruit in the state according to On3’s industry rankings. The unanimously rated four-star prospect is the fifth-best tight end nationally according to the network’s industry rankings, while On3 (78) and 247Sports (84) rate him as a top 100 player in their respective 2025 recruiting rankings.

After being on campus eight times last year, Andrew Olesh paid an official visit to the Penn State football team last weekend.

I will be there @PennStateFball tomorrow for an official visit! 🦁🦁 @CoachTHowle @CoachRocco @chrismahon_ @Kotelnicki @coachjfranklin #We are pic.twitter.com/WtKLznSqFz

– Andrew Olesh (@a_olesh8) June 14, 2024

In comparison, this weekend is only Olesh’s second trip to Michigan, the first being in April.

“I want to spend more time with the coaching staff,” Olesh told On3 about his official visit“I haven’t seen the entire campus, but I want to see that and the housing situation. I also want to spend time talking to the players and finding out how they like Michigan and how I would fit in there.”

Olesh also visited Alabama (May 31) and Florida (June 7) last month. In April limited his recruitment to eight schools.

In-state problems for Penn State football?

If you’ve been following the Nittany Lions’ progress in the 2025 recruiting cycle, you might be led to believe that Pennsylvania State dominates James Franklin, rather than the other way around.

Franklin and his team have suffered some tough losses in-state so far this cycle. Whether that criticism is justified or not, optically speaking, the lack of elite talent from their own backyard will tarnish the shine of the “dominate the state” mantra.

Penn State Football currently has commitments from four of the state’s top 15 young players, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for 2025The Nittany Lions have averaged about half of their top-15 recruits over the past three cycles, with eight commitments in 2022, six in 2023 and seven in 2024.

Mandatory Photo Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

However, with the jury still out on some of the Keystone State’s most promising talent, the Nittany Lions could hit the bullseye with their previous cycles.

Wide Receiver from Susquehanna Township Lex Cyrus has been predicted by several experts to join this class sooner rather than later.

Imhotep running back Jabree Wallace-Coleman is on his official visit this weekend in the wake of Alvin Henderson’s withdrawal. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine currently leans more toward the Nittany Lions than North Carolina and Rutgers.

That leaves Andrew Olesh. According to On3’s RPM, Penn State is also the frontrunner here. But Michigan already dealt the Nittany Lions a low blow this month by keeping Kainoa Winston from following in his cousin’s footsteps in Happy Valley.

For symbolic and football-related reasons, it would be a major acquisition success for Franklin and the Nittany Lions to ensure that history does not repeat itself with Olesh.

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