Story by
Blue-chip running back flips from Penn State to Big Ten rival
- Story by
- Blue-chip running back flips from Penn State to Big Ten rival
Penn State's 2027 recruiting class has taken a massive hit, with four-star running back Aiden Gibson flipping to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Tuesday, according to Hayes Fawcett of Rivals. Gibson is also reclassifying and is set to join Rutgers for the 2026 season.
He was one of Penn State's top commits and had been committed to them since May 12. Rutgers, which offered him a scholarship in August of 2025, never stopped recruiting the Woodruff, South Carolina native and was eventually able to pull off the flip.
Advertisement
Gibson was ranked as the No. 142 overall player and No. 8 running back in the 2027 recruiting class in the Rivals industry ranking. While his ranking took a hit, he is now the No. 236 overall player and No. 27 running back, his departure hurts, especially with him joining a conference rival.
He is coming off a strong junior season at Woodruff High School, where he is a three-year contributor. In 11 games, he carried the ball 205 times for 1,611 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging 7.9 yards per attempt. He also caught 24 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns.
Penn State now has 21 commits in the 2027 cycle, including six four-star prospects. They are down to one running back commit in Chukwuma Odoh, a three-star prospect from New Jersey. The class is ranked as the 22nd-best in the country and the 7th-best in the Big Ten by Rivals.
Gibson is their eighth decommitment in the 2027 cycle, with several coming after the Nittany Lions fired former head coach James Franklin. Five of the eight prospects are blue-chip prospects, including five-star running back Kermon Spell.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Blue-chip running back flips from Penn State to Big Ten rival
