Jordan Hall picks Saturday: Penn State had him at its last two home games, and Ohio State still leads On3's forecast

Update, October 23: Hall has moved his announcement back one day, to 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, October 24. He posted the change on social media, and Garrick Hodge of Bucknuts on 247Sports and Josh Yourish of Victory Bell Rings both reported it on Thursday, October 22. His three finalists are the same. Hodge wrote that Penn State and Ohio State have the most momentum and that Hall “has not outright picked a team yet,” which is 247Sports’ read, not a decision. The story below was written for the Friday date: the pick now comes the day after Princeton’s game against Fairfield, not the same night.

Jordan Hall makes his choice on Friday. The Princeton running back told Rivals on October 1 that he would commit on October 23 and pick between Missouri, Ohio State and Penn State, as we reported that night. Four days out, the question for Ohio State is the same one it was then. Its class of 2027 has 20 commitments on the board and not one of them is a running back. Steve Helwagen of Bucknuts counted the same in his weekly recap of the class on Sunday: 20 commitments, “no running backs.”

Here is what has been reported since he named his three, and what the forecasts say tonight.

Penn State’s last two home games

When Hall named his finalists, Rivals’ Hunter Shelton reported that he had already visited Happy Valley once this fall and “previously said he plans to return for the White Out on Oct. 10.” That was the afternoon Ohio State hosted Maryland in Columbus.

On October 12, Brian Dohn of 247Sports reported that Hall “was at Penn State’s last two home games, including an official visit.” Dohn framed the race as “a battle between Ohio State and Penn State,” wrote that “the programs are both still heavily involved,” and that Ohio State “continues to push after he made a pair of visits there last month.” Missouri, he added, “is also a finalist.”

Those two Ohio State trips are the ones this site reported at the time: a game-day visit for the Ball State opener on September 5, when the Buckeyes offered, and his official visit for Kent State on September 19.

Dohn’s piece is for 247Sports subscribers past its opening paragraphs. We have read only the free part and use nothing beyond it. It does not say which of the two Penn State games was the official visit, so neither do we.

What the forecasts say tonight

On3’s predictions page for Hall, read on Monday night, still lists exactly one insider pick: Steve Wiltfong’s, for Ohio State, filed September 17 at 60 percent confidence. Nobody has added a second in the month since. On3’s industry consensus, across 19 schools, prints Ohio State at 92.6 percent, barely changed from 93.3 percent on October 1. The order behind it moved: Penn State is now second at 3.6 percent, up from third at 2.4, and Miami (Ohio) is third at 3.0. Missouri is not in the top three.

His 247Sports page still reads “No Crystal Ball predictions at this time.” His Composite rating has not moved since September (0.8744), though his national rank has slid from No. 847 to No. 851 while his rating stayed put. On3’s own industry ranking has him No. 819 nationally and No. 64 among running backs.

A forecast is a reporter’s read, not a decision. The only thing that settles this is Hall, on Friday.

Friday is also a game night

Princeton is 9-0. The Vikings beat Oak Hills 39-7 last Friday, and MaxPreps lists one game left on the regular-season schedule: Fairfield, at home, at 7 p.m. on October 23, the same day Hall picks. No report we have read gives a time or a place for the announcement.

What Friday changes on the board

If Hall picks Ohio State, he becomes the class’s 21st commitment and its first running back, and his row moves from the watch list onto the board.

If he picks Missouri or Penn State, the two other backs on Ohio State’s watch list are both committed elsewhere. Kingston Allen, the Green Bay back Ohio State offered at the Maryland game, is still a hard commit to Wisconsin on his 247Sports page tonight, with one Crystal Ball prediction, for the Badgers. Nigel Newkirk is pledged to Alabama. The full picture at the position is on the running back page.

We will have the decision on Friday as soon as it is reported.