For the third consecutive year, Penn State earned a signature from the top-ranked prospect in the state of Pennsylvania when five-star Micah Parsons officially put pen to paper on his letter of intent Wednesday.

#PennState Signed Rivals No. 1 Pennsylvania recruit in 3-straight years (2017 – Micah Parsons; 2016 – Lamont Wade; 2015 – Miles Sanders) for the first time since 2004-06 (2004 – Anthony Morelli; 2005 – Justin King; 2006 – Jared Odrick).

— Kris Petersen (@GoPSUKris) December 20, 2017

Western Pennsylvania blue chips Lamont Wade and Miles Sanders picked the Nittany Lions the last two cycles, and the addition of Parsons to that crop continues on James Franklin’s promise to “Dominate the State.” Wade, a rising sophomore corner, and Sanders, a rising junior running back, will be crucial pieces of Franklin’s roster next year and should compete for starting jobs.

“I’m really proud that we’ve signed the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania for three straight years,” Franklin said. “Being able to keep the best players home is really important. I’m very appreciative of Miles and his mom for getting this thing going. Miles made it cool to stay home and play at Penn State. It’s kinda the sexy thing to do now.”

Franklin said Parsons will enroll early for the spring semester and start his career at Mike linebacker rather than defensive end. He’s a near lock to play right away as a true freshman next fall.

In addition to being the top prospect in Pennsylvania, Parsons is the fourth-ranked high school player in the country for 2018. In fact, the Harrisburg native is the second-best recruit to ever sign with the Nittany Lions since they started tracking these things, behind only Derrick Williams, who was also the No. 4 overall prospect in 2005.

Franklin said the twists and turns surrounding Parsons’ recruitment will go down in history.

“You’re going to have to wait until the book comes out,” Franklin said. “Fortunately for us, at the end of the day, we had built a very strong relationship with mom. We had built a very strong relationship with dad by the end of the process. It’l be in my memoirs when I’m retired. He’ll have a number of pages.”