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one of them caught a lot of people by surprise. A former five-star prospect, he had already spent two seasons at Penn State as a backup safety and was seem- ingly poised to contend for a starting position following the graduation of Nick Scott. But he hadn't made the kind of impact he had expected to make as the most highly rated player in Penn State's 2017 recruiting class, and as coach James Franklin explained recently, "He's frus- trated. He wants to play more. He wants to have a big impact. And we want that for him, too." After thinking it over, Wade ultimately chose to remain with the Nittany Lions. Under the previous transfer rules, his decision might not have attracted enough attention to warrant a public statement. But because he had turned up in the portal, a statement was deemed necessary. Here's what he posted on Twitter on Jan. 27: "After long thoughts, prayers, and conversations, I've come to the decision that I will be removing my name from the transfer portal and continue to pur- sue my degree, which I'm 3 semesters away from completing and getting back to work with my brothers. I look forward to making an impact on the field for the 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions. Some- times we have to make short term sacri- fices to achieve our long term goals, and I believe this is what's best for me right now." Wade's situation was similar in some ways to that of quarterback Tommy Stevens, who last winter thought about leaving Penn State after spending two seasons as Trace McSorley's rarely used backup. But while there had been whis- pers that Stevens was exploring his op- tions, there was no transfer portal at the time and therefore no official indication that he was serious about heading else- where. It's likely that many casual fans didn't even know he was thinking about transferring until midway through spring practice when he talked about his decision with a group of reporters after a workout. The chance to quietly assess his career choices was a luxury that Wade didn't have. "The challenge is that when you go in the transfer portal, it becomes public. Tommy's situation never really became public," Franklin said. "Lamont's situa- tion becomes public, and there are a lot of voices. There's a lot of noise." Franklin cited Stevens' decision to re- turn as an example of how the process should work in a perfect world. "Tommy Stevens is really the original transfer portal," the coach said. "To me, he did it the way it should have always been done and I think could still be done right now. He came and talked to me, had some concerns, wants to start, was graduating. He had two years left of eligibility. And we said, let's talk this through together. What are your objec- tives? We were able to come up with an understanding between the two of us – and his family and his high school coach. If you find something that makes sense for you, then nobody is going to be more supportive of you than us. "He looked around and didn't find that and said, 'I'm staying.' And we went from there. So I think it's a really good example." Wade was one of 14 Nittany Lions to enter the transfer portal following the end of the 2018 regular season. The oth- ers were receivers Juwan Johnson, Bran- don Polk and Cam Sullivan-Brown, linebackers Dae'lun Darien, Brelin Fai- son-Walden and Jarvis Miller, safeties Ayron Monroe and Isaiah Humphries, offensive linemen Alex Gellerstedt and Sterling Jenkins, cornerback Zech McP- hearson, tight end Danny Dalton and de- fensive end Torrence Brown. Several of those players have since re- vealed their destinations. Dalton is headed to Boston College, Humphries to California, Gellerstedt to Virginia, Miller to Massachusetts, Darien to Delaware, Brown to Southern Mississippi, Jenkins to Duquesne and Faison-Walden to UNC Charlotte. The others hadn't announced their new schools as of this writing. Viewed in purely mathematical terms, that's a big loss. The 13 departing players – the most of any school in the Football Bowl Subdivision – constitute 15 percent MOVING THE CHAINS John- son had a knack for making first downs during his sopho- more season, but he strug- gled with in- juries and inconsistency last year and is seeking a fresh start at another school. Photo by Steve Manuel

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