Penn State set to host rising 2025 offensive lineman for Lasch Bash Barbecue

Penn State may still be a few weeks out from its annual Lasch Bash Barbecue, but one of the region’s top up-and-coming prospects has already confirmed that he plans to attend. Will Black, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound offensive tackle, confirmed his plans with Blue White Illustrated Wednesday morning.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Black announced in March that he’ll transfer to Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Within weeks he earned multiple offers, with Penn State extending one on April 21. Black followed that up by visiting State College for the first time on May 23.

“I love all the coaches that I met,” Black said during an interview following his previous visit. “They showed me all the great things they have to offer. I liked how Coach [Phil Trautwein] goes over all the small details, which I was able to see [Monday]. I love how much they care about academics there, as well as winning football games. All the facilities and resources they have there are amazing and super helpful.”

Black won’t be able to speak with coaches regularly until September, which is why that previous visit was so important for Trautwein, Franklin and the entire Nittany Lion coaching staff.

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“I didn’t know Coach Traut very well before, so this was my first time getting to know him,” Black said. “We started off meeting at breakfast, where he was able to get to know all about me and my family. I thought it was great how he wanted to get to know me and build a relationship right away.

“I was then able to see how he coaches, and I loved how he went into detail about how he coaches for the run and pass game so I could get an idea about the kind of coach he is. Also, I like how he spends time with the O-line outside of football to get to build a relationship with them.”

Black added that he also had a good talk with Franklin before leaving Penn State.

“It was great to get to talk to him,” he said. “He just really wanted to get to know me and my family, so we talked about that mostly. But he also answered questions we had. He also talked about what he liked about me, mentioning that I’m big but very light on my feet.”

Now, with a return visit scheduled, Penn State is one of just two schools to host Black for two visits so far, joining Notre Dame. He also saw Pitt and Syracuse this past spring and camped at Michigan just over two weeks ago.

As of now, Black doesn’t have any other visits in the works for July. However, did mention he’s looking into potentially camping at Alabama on July 25 if he can make it work.

Black currently holds an 88 overall rating by On3. He’s the 26th-ranked offensive tackle and the third-ranked player in Connecticut for his class.

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