Black Shoe Diaries
DOMINATE THE STATE
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Penn State’s Top 10 Players for 2026: #5 Andrew Rappelyea
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points, a […]
Only Yvan Kemajou Until Penn State Football
Yvan Kemajou enters his sophomore season as one of the most experienced pieces of Penn State’s retooled EDGE room. The 6’3″, 254-pound Maryland native was a four-star recruit out of Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, ranked the No. 188 overall prospect and No. 21 defensive lineman nationally, with a senior season that included 40 […]
MMQB – QB Development
This past Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Green Bay Packers in the first game of the NFL preseason. The Steelers prevailed 28-9, and former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar played a large part in the win. The third-string quarterback in the game, Drew went 1o-of-13 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns […]
Oh, Hello: Justin Larose Commits to Penn State Hockey
Penn State hockey’s 2026-27 recruiting class filled another forward spot with a commitment from Justin Larose: Larose has spent the last five seasons in the QMJHL. He played for the Victoriaville Tigres from 2021 until midway through the 2024-25 season, when he was traded to the Drummond Voltigeurs. With the Tigres, he was slow to […]
Only Tyrell Chatman Until Penn State Football
Tyrell Chatman arrives at Penn State as a true freshman defensive back out of Lincoln, Nebraska, where he starred at North Star High School. The 6’2″ three-star recruit was ranked the No. 3 prospect in Nebraska by both 247Sports and On3. He originally committed to Northern Illinois before flipping to Iowa State, then followed head […]
Only Carson Hansen Until Penn State Football
Carson Hansen spent his time at Iowa State gaining the top spot the old school way. He got 22 carries for 67 yards his freshman season, 151 carries for 752 yards his sophomore season, and, by his junior year, he took over the starting role, starting nine of the Cyclones’ 12 games last year. He […]
All the Penn State Players Named to Award Watch Lists
It’s watch list season! As of this publication, nine Nittany Lions have been named to 10 different watch lists (tight end Benjamin Brahmer received two nods thus far). See the full list below, and here’s hoping for the kind of season that ends with several Penn Staters bringing home hardware. K Ryan Barker – Lou […]
Only “The Number 22” Until Penn State Football
Joe Paterno was never fond of retiring jersey numbers, so it makes sense that only after his death did the Nittany Lions retire a one. It’s a good one too, given that it’s the number of Penn State’s only Heisman winner. John Cappelletti won the Heisman in 1973, leading Penn State to one of its […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players for 2026: Daryus Dixson
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points. Up […]
Summer Summary: August 13th
Our fellow SB Nation site in Piscataway thinks the new head coach has an easy start to his Nittany Lion career. Mr. Campbell doesn’t quite see it that way. Here’s where several football players like to chow down. Also, some early standouts from fall camp. Penn State-Pitt soon? ICYMI, hockey’s reasons to be excited for […]
Penn State Hockey’s Three Reasons For Pessimism
On Tuesday, I covered three reasons to be optimistic about Penn State hockey’s 2026-27 season. The roster is talented, and the goaltending should be good enough to keep the Nittany Lions competitive against better teams. However, there are some warning signs that the season will be a struggle for Penn State. 1. Defense The defense […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Payers For 2026: No. 7 Benjamin Brahmer
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Curtis Jacobs Until Penn State Football
We are 23 days away from Penn State football, my friends. This post was originally going to be about second-year player Jahmir Joseph, but he recently switched from #23 to #0. So, instead, we are going back a few years and looking at Curtis Jacobs. I mentioned this during the spring when we did our […]
BSD YouTube Show: 2026 Penn State Athletics Takes Purge
For the second year in a row, Pat is joined by former BSD writer Clay Sauertieg to fire off some takes. For an explainer on the concept: in the movie, The Purge, all criminal activity is legal for 12 hours. For this episode, criminal activity isn’t legal, but any and all takes can be said […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players For 2026: No. 8 Cooper Cousins
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Ibn McDaniels Until Penn State Football
We are just 24 days away from Penn State football. Today, we profile a new #24: Ibn McDaniels. McDaniels was a three-star prospect out of New Jersey in the 2024 recruiting class, who camped at Penn State multiple times but never received an official offer. Instead, he landed at Syracuse, where he spent the last […]
Penn State Hockey’s Three Reasons For Optimism
I thought I would adapt our long-running offseason series for football for hockey, which could be in for a rebuilding year with new players at all three levels. Still, this looks like a solid team entering the season, and the Nittany Lions have the talent to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2026-27. 1. Goaltending […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Payers For 2026: No. 9 Brock Riker
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Quinton Martin Until Penn State Football
We are 25 days away from the return of Penn State football. One of the potential breakout players on the season? #25 Quinton Martin, who’s headed into his third year with the Nittany Lions. He spent the last two seasons backing up Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, which as it turned out, wasn’t all that […]
Everything you need to know about attending a football game at Penn State
Things to Do on a Penn State Game Day Greet the Team – Fans line up to offer a spirited welcome to the team as they are dropped off from the iconic blue buses before each game. Dropoff time is typically about two hours prior to kickoff, and you can view details at gopsusports.com ahead of each home […]
Only Saquon Barkley Until Penn State Football
So Penn State does have two #26s on the team this season, but they are both returning players: RB Cam Wallace and LB Cam Smith. So since those two are a bit known around here, I decided to take the liberty to profile a former 26 — Saquon Barkley. How freaking awesome was this guy?! […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players for 2026: Carson Hansen
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points, a […]
MMQB – TEU?
For the better part of two decades – longer than that, for sure, just so the old heads don’t start yelling at me – Penn State has churned out tight ends at the highest level. Jesse James, Mike Gesicki, Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, and Tyler Warren continued a nearly continuous run of NFL-level […]
Only Omarion Davis Until Penn State Football
We are 27 days away from Penn State football, and we have another newcomer to profile. Donning the 27 this season is Omarion Davis, a sophomore safety originally from Charlotte, NC. Davis spent his freshman season at Boston College, where he played in all 12 games and had two starts. He finished the year with […]
Only Bryson Williams Until Penn State Football
We are four weeks away — FOUR WEEKS! — from Penn State football. Today, we have another new face on the roster #28 Bryson Williams. Williams comes from Nebraska where he was a three-star prospect in the 2026 class. Rivals had him ranked as the No. 32 overall safety. He originally committed to Iowa State […]
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