Penn State Recruiting: Nittany Lions Fans Should Forget About Zayd Issah

In Wednesday's recruiting roundup, we noted a report from PennLive.com that Penn State RB/LB commit Zayd Issah hadn't yet publicly reaffirmed his verbal commitment to Penn State—and that he recently received a scholarship offer from Oregon.

Less than 24 hours later, Issah tossed another log onto the fire.

According to PennLive.com, Issah has reopened his recruitment, and while he still has good things to say about Penn State, let's not stay optimistic for the Nittany Lions on this one:

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Two days before the start of his senior season, Central Dauphin two-way star Zayd Issah has opened up his college recruiting according to Blue-White Illustrated. 

"If I had to choose a school right now, it would still be Penn State. I really just think it will be easier for me to look at my options again and go from there," Issah told BWI. "I want to be fair to Penn State, this has been a difficult decision but for now I just want to check out all my options again and we'll go from there."

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That's all fine and good, but Issah now gets five months to court other teams—and since Oregon joined the list of schools offering Issah, it's not as if he'll be hurting for attention from other big-name schools.

Moreover, those few months that Issah will get in his reopened recruitment are going to be filled with football. So however Penn State does in its first year of sanctions is likely going to weigh heavily in Issah's decision, especially when it comes to how Penn State stacks up for the future.

Past that, it stands to reason that with every additional offer Issah gets, the odds that he rejoins Penn State become slimmer and slimmer. And make no mistake—this kid can play. For a refresher, his highlights are below.

So we've got a guy who's talented, is getting attention from other major programs and has to decide whether he's sticking with a non-binding verbal commitment to a school that's on its way down to the depths of NCAA sanctions hell for the length of Issah's eligibility.

Nah, man.

Issah's as good as gone. It's nice that he's providing Penn State the courtesy of being open about it, but come February, he won't be signing on the dotted line for Bill O'Brien and company.