Top draft prospect Fashanu will return to Penn St.

Penn State near tackle Olu Fashanu told ESPN that he's returning to schoolhouse adjacent year, a astonishing determination successful NFL circles considering helium is projected arsenic the apical violative enactment imaginable successful the upcoming NFL draft.

Fashanu, 19, is simply a redshirt sophomore who is successful his archetypal afloat play arsenic a starter astatine Penn State. Fashanu is 6-foot-6, 310 pounds and played precocious schoolhouse shot astatine Gonzaga College High successful Washington D.C.

Fashanu established himself arsenic 1 of the apical violative linemen successful the state this season, with immoderate scouts projecting him arsenic apt a top-10 draught pick.

Fashanu said he's not connected societal media and had nary thought astir his rising draught banal until teammates showed him a mock draught this season.

Fashanu told ESPN that helium felt similar helium has "unfinished business" astatine Penn State and that he's returning chiefly to assistance the Nittany Lions execute bigger goals, specifically naming the Big Ten Championship and a nationalist rubric arsenic 2 things he'd similar to execute successful 2023. He stressed that the imaginable of the halfway of young endowment astatine Penn State is appealing to him, and he's appreciative of the chemistry that he's built with some violative enactment manager Phil Trautwein and manager James Franklin.

Fashanu besides said he'll get his grade successful proviso concatenation absorption sometime successful the adjacent twelvemonth and plans to commencement his master's.

"Penn State is an awesome spot to spell to school," helium said. "And I tin get my acquisition for free."

Fashanu's length, athleticism and powerfulness are appealing to NFL scouts. After surging to the apical of astir NFL teams' boards for the 2023 draft, helium volition alternatively apt participate adjacent play successful the uncommon aerial of apical prospects, an aboriginal radical that is apt to see Drake Maye, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Caleb Williams -- his precocious schoolhouse teammate from Gonzaga.

"I deliberation helium would person been the apical tackle successful this draught and a top-10 pick," 1 NFL scout told ESPN. "He's a check-all-the-boxes feline -- precocious character. He's a sure-fire precocious pick. It's an casual evaluation."

The propulsion of his squad and his acquisition brought Fashanu backmost to Penn State. When the young violative halfway of freshman backmost Drew Allar and freshman tailbacks Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen were mentioned to Fashanu, helium countered by pointing retired however bully they tin beryllium adjacent twelvemonth with a afloat offseason of grooming and development.

"I conscionable can't hold to get to enactment this offseason," helium said.

Fashanu has started conscionable 9 games successful his vocation -- 8 of them came this season. He hasn't played since getting injured against Ohio State successful October, missing the past 4 games. The undisclosed wounded is not considered serious, and he's expected to enactment afloat successful outpouring football.

Aside from looking guardant to his play trips to Penn State's Berkey Creamery for the famed crystal cream, Fashanu mostly stressed being with his teammates. After making important advancement from 2021 to 2022, helium can't hold to spot what happens adjacent twelvemonth aft different offseason of work.

"I consciousness similar we've travel a agelong way, and there's much we tin do," helium said.

The quality is simply a immense boon to Penn State, which went 10-2 this play and expects to instrumentality a talented young roster.

"We couldn't beryllium much excited to person Olu instrumentality for the 2023 season," Franklin said. "He is simply a idiosyncratic of precocious quality who exemplifies our halfway values, leads by example, and models what it means to beryllium a implicit Penn State student-athlete. We volition proceed to enactment highly hard to assistance Olu execute each of his goals connected and disconnected the tract and look guardant to different play with him and his household successful Happy Valley."