Better late than never: PSU lands Class of ’21 JUCO prospect

And now for something completely different…

Penn State got a commitment on Tuesday night from an intriguing junior college defensive line prospect who will be joining the program immediately.

Jordan van den Berg, a native of South Africa who played a handful of games last fall at Iowa Western Community College, committed to the Nittany Lions on Tuesday and will be on the roster this fall. You can view some video of him playing here.

Rarely do you see a junior college or high school prospect commit to a big-time program the June before the season starts, but that’s what’s going down here. And honestly, this is a bit of a coup for the Nittany Lions, who only got van den Berg on campus for the first time earlier this week.

van den Berg played in just five of the Rievers’ eight games last season, but he finished sixth on the team with 20 tackles, along with four tackles for loss and a sack. At 6-foot-3, 285 pounds and with some experience, van den Berg might be able to provide some quality depth at a Penn State defensive tackle spot that is a bit light on experience heading into the 2021 season. But, he also has four years of eligibility remaining, with enough raw talent to make him a really good project for defensive line coach John Scott.

Maybe the best part for Penn State: He had recently picked up offers from Iowa and Nebraska and was thought to be a likely lean toward the Hawkeyes, who scout and develop defensive line talent well. So, there’s likely quite a bit to work with here.

Donnie Collins

Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for Times-Shamrock Newspapers since 2004. The Penn State Football Blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Contact: dcollins@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5368; @DonnieCollinsTT