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Gavin McKenna gives Penn State 1 of the most hyped recruits ever, not just in hockey | TribLIVE.com
Penn State

Gavin McKenna gives Penn State 1 of the most hyped recruits ever, not just in hockey

Jonathan Bombulie
Jonathan Bombulie
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Getty
Gavin McKenna of Canada celebrates a goal with teammates on the bench during the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships against Finland.

Two days after 17-year-old hockey star Gavin McKenna announced his intentions to play for Penn State in the fall, the school confirmed the news via press release.

“His arrival to Hockey Valley is extremely significant not only to our hockey program, but to Penn State athletics and to college hockey as a whole,” coach Guy Gadowsky said in the release.

Gadowsky is not exaggerating.

McKenna’s commitment gives Penn State not only one of the most hyped recruits in college hockey history, but maybe also the most ballyhooed recruit in the history of the school’s athletic programs.

Part of that is because of McKenna’s abilities, of course. He’s a 6-foot, 170-pound scoring machine who took his aura to another level when he recorded at least one point in the last 40 games of the regular season and first 14 points of the playoffs for Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League last year.

He ended up with 129 points in 56 regular-season games and 38 more in 16 playoff games.

It is also because of a major rule change in 2024. The NCAA ruled that playing Canadian major junior hockey no longer made a player ineligible to play college hockey. McKenna is the first major star to take advantage of the rule change.

Five college players have gone No. 1 overall in the NHL Draft in the past, like McKenna surely will next June, but none was nearly as acclaimed. They are Macklin Celebrini (2024), Owen Power (2021), Erik Johnson (2006), Rick DiPietro (2000) and Joe Murphy (1986).

It’s also easy to include McKenna on a short list of the most hyped recruits in any sport in Penn State history.

In football, the Nittany Lions have had two players go No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft — Ki-Jana Carter (1995) and Courtney Brown (2000) — but neither was considered a top player in the country coming out of high school.

The highest ranked football recruits in Penn State history — at least since prospect rankings became popular three or four decades ago — are wide receiver Derrick Williams and linebacker Micah Parsons. Williams was the No. 4 recruit in the country in 2005 and Parsons was No. 5 in 2018.

The closest thing to McKenna in terms of prospect hype in Penn State sports history might be a classmate of his. Wrestler P.J. Duke will be a freshman with the Nittany Lions next season, and last month, he defeated four-time NCAA champion Yanni Diakomihalis to win a spot on the U.S. national team for the world championships before wrestling his first college match.

Under Cael Sanderson, Penn State has snagged the No. 1 recruit in the country four other times — Morgan McIntosh (2011), Mark Hall (2016), Shayne Van Ness (2021) and Marcus Blaze (2024) — but that’s wrestling. It’s impossible to suggest any of those outstanding grapplers have the name value McKenna does.

Blue-and-white McKenna hockey jerseys are sure to be Happy Valley’s hottest fashion accessory any day now.

“He’s one of the most exciting young talents in the game and reflects the level of student-athletes we’re bringing to Penn State across all sports,” athletic director Pat Kraft said in Thursday’s press release, marking the rare occasion an AD comments on the addition of a single recruit.

“His commitment is a testament to the national reputation Guy Gadowsky and his staff have built, and we know he’ll thrive in the culture of excellence that surrounds our program. We can’t wait to see him compete alongside this incredible group and help push our program to even greater heights.”

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.

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