In the current 2024-25 NCAA wrestling season, there are a lot of young talents to watch out for, hailing from different universities. However, the community also keeps an eye on the up-and-coming high school talents, one of them being Bo Bassett. The 18-year-old has created a lot of buzz with him touring many universities to choose one of them for his college career, and recently, he also visited OSU, where he watched a David Taylor-led Cowboys wrestling on their home turf.

The prodigy, though, isn’t the only one who is keeping track of his university visits, but also the community, which wants to see him make the right decision for his NCAA career. Recently, one fan gave their insights on Bassett’s interest and also highlighted three major points that would make him not choose Penn State over the others, and when the wrestling community got an eye on this social media post, they also shared their opinions on the potential career choice of the youngster.

Fan’s perspective on Bo Bassett not choosing Penn State

In college wrestling, Penn State is one of those universities that have produced a ton of talents who have competed in the international stages after their successful NCAA career. However, on Reddit, u/Educational-Art6499 shared a spectrum of the community, stating, “Everyone needs to calm down on calling any other program than Penn State, 2nd tier; it’s honestly pretty disrespectful to the coaches and athletes.” They were serious about the comparisons that were made between Penn State and the other universities, and they just wanted it to be stopped.

Surely, Penn State is a top university and has what it takes to produce potential top wrestlers in the world, but other universities that have their own training program shouldn’t be taken lightly, that too during the current season, as plenty of them have gone through many changes. The Reddit user also acknowledged that Bassett has been visiting many universities to choose the right place for him in the future. However, whatever decision he makes in the coming days or months, they just don’t want him to join Penn State, and they added three specific reasons to back their opinion.

The financial factor comes in the first place, followed by a long statement in the second, “Growing up, his idol was Spencer Lee, and where is Spencer Lee? Iowa isn’t that crazy. Plus, Leo Deluca is on his way there. Imagine a Deluca, Forrest, Bassett trio. Just makes sense (I could be wrong).“ For them, Iowa might be the right place for the 18-year-old, as he idolizes one of the star wrestlers from the university and might also just fit into the right squad of talented wrestlers.

The Reddit user’s third and final point for Bassett not choosing Penn State as his university was due to the presence of OSU. The Cowboys have gone through a ton of changes in the current season, including having a new head coach, David Taylor. They also brought more big names from Penn State, like Jimmy Kennedy and Thomas Gilman. While this was surely a shocker to Penn State, it was a rise of high hope for OSU, and the impact has already been seen with the Cowboys being dominant in their season opener.

The netizen also stressed the fact that they are Cornell University fans, and it would be great for them if Bassett decides to compete for Ithaca. The Reddit post made a lot of buzz among the r/wrestling subreddit, as many other community members also joined the discussion and shared their own opinions regarding the future of the 18-year-old prodigy.

Wrestling community debate on the prodigy’s future

Bo Bassett is surely a hot topic in the wrestling community, and why wouldn’t he be? The prodigy is on a 74-0 streak and looking for this 75th win, and while focusing on high school wrestling events, he’s also keen to find the right university. Talents like this are special, and one fan stated, “My biggest takeaway from this process is that Bo is going to get a really good financial package wherever he ends up. Kids that are all stars should really follow Bo’s strategy for college recruitment, so they can have leverage to get the best deal for themselves.“ Another fan added, stating, “Agreed. Also, he likes the spotlight, and I’m assuming would like to be “the face” of a program, much like Spencer Lee was in Iowa; that’s not gonna happen at Penn State. That said, w/DT at OSU, maybe it can happen there w/the Penn State magic…”

Getting into college wrestling might sound straightforward for someone like Bassett, but actually, it’s a lot more difficult. Surely, he will easily get into any university, but he has to make a decision that would impact his whole wrestling career. There are a lot of stakes for the young wrestler, and it is also the reason why he has visited so many colleges, including Iowa and Michigan, before he recently paid a visit to OSU.

Keeping their hopes high for Iowa, this fan stated, “I think he goes either Iowa State, Iowa, or Oklahoma State. He just seems like an Iowa State guy to me, I can’t explain it.“ One social media user wrote a reply, stating, “Penn state is absolutely in a tier of their own, making any other program, by definition, second tier. My gut tells me Bo and Jax end up elsewhere, but Penn state makes a ton of sense for Bo’s stated goals. NCAA championship, Olympic championship, mma championship. Penn state has the most to offer in all of those areas.”

While Penn State has lost its major players like David Taylor, Jimmy Kennedy, Thomas Gilman, and many more to rival universities, they are still a university that will be contending at the top of the NCAA charts. Cael Sanderson, head coach of Penn State, chose Nick Lee to be the assistant coach. He will be the person to lead the young wrestlers in the university, and even if he has seen his former teammates becoming rivals, that is something that will act as the fuel to keep him motivated throughout the 2024-25 season.

For Bassett, the ongoing season will also be a benchmark of what he can expect from the universities in the future. So, while he makes his crucial career decision, he will surely find himself in a place where he will thrive and excel more in wrestling.