Penn State landed 2027 Texas cornerback Dhillon McGee, beating Texas and SMU for a three-star defensive back with major upside.
Penn State just walked into Texas and pulled off the kind of recruiting steal that stings in Austin and Dallas.
Three-star cornerback Dhillon McGee, one of the more intriguing defensive backs in the 2027 recruiting class, has committed to the Nittany Lions over Texas, SMU and several other regional programs.
The decision came just days after McGee took an official visit to Texas, making the miss even tougher for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns to swallow.
McGee is a Texas native, and for most of his recruitment, it looked like geography might win.
He visited SMU four times. He visited Texas four times. He also made multiple stops at Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas A&M. In other words, this recruitment had Lone Star State written all over it.
Then Penn State crashed the party.
The Nittany Lions kept working, got McGee on campus multiple times and closed hard when it mattered.
By decision day, the momentum had shifted. McGee announced his commitment with a simple message asking for prayers as he begins the next chapter of his life, while making it clear he was all-in with the “We Are” crowd.
At 6-1 and 175 pounds, McGee already has the length college coaches want at cornerback. He’s not a finished product physically, but that’s part of the appeal.
With another high school season ahead of him, plus a full college strength program waiting, there’s plenty of room for him to add size without losing the athletic traits that made him such a priority.
McGee is rated as the No. 43 cornerback in the 2027 class and the No. 55 overall prospect in Texas. That might not scream five-star fireworks, but this is exactly the type of prospect programs love to develop ... long frame, Power Four interest, heavy visit history and enough upside to outplay the early ranking.
For Penn State, McGee becomes commitment No. 22 in a 2027 class sitting around the top 20 nationally. It’s another strong defensive addition and a clear recruiting win outside the program’s usual footprint.
For Texas, this isn’t a disaster. The Longhorns still own a top-10 class nationally and already have five-star cornerback John Meredith III in the boat. That softens the blow ... a lot.
But let’s not pretend this one won’t annoy the Texas staff.
When a home-state defensive back visits the 40 Acres five days before committing elsewhere, that’s not just a miss. That’s a message.
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