Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
6 M A Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he Blue-White Game used to be a finish line. Penn State would wrap up its typically underwhelming spring showcase and pack it in until the summer. It made sense, with classes ending at the University Park campus in early May and the team — players and coaches alike — needing time to recover from the wear and tear of 15 practices. Not anymore. When spring ball wrapped in mid- April, Penn State's coaches prepared to go on the road for the spring evaluation period. That wasn't new. Before that, however, the most im- portant recruiting job the group will do this spring is on the home front. The transfer portal opened again on April 16 for nongraduate transfers, mean- ing that Penn State had to "recruit our locker room" in the words of corner- backs coach Terry Smith. "We just have to talk to each guy and show them their value and worth to our program and hope that we don't lose a guy," Smith said. Penn State escaped relatively un- scathed from the winter portal win- dow. The Nittany Lions lost just five scholarship players: defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg, offensive lineman Ibrahim Traore, punter Alex Bacchetta, and wide receivers Dante Cephas and Cristian Driver. Out of that group, van den Berg, slated to be the fifth guy at a position that returned everyone from last year, was the only relative surprise. Still, the Nittany Lions must enter the second half of the spring with their heads on a swivel. Tampering is as prevalent as ever, and the allure of po- tential NIL deals on the other side will leave players and their families looking for the most fortuitous next step. That means Penn State must stay vigilant on the home front while keeping an eye out for someone who can help its roster in the fall. It's double-edged and expected to be an exhausting endeavor on both sides. Whether it's right or wrong, there's not time for that discussion right now. College football has undoubtedly moved away from its roots toward a pro model. The sport isn't ruined, but it certainly has changed. Some of that change will be for the better. Thanks to the NCAA's laissez-faire attitude to NIL at the outset of this movement, however, it's morphed into a light ver- sion of free agency. In that model, there are still winners, but it's harder to find them. "I'm still a big believer in transfor- mational relationships, and college football being transformational," coach James Franklin said following the Blue-White Game. "I'm worried that college football is becoming more and more transactional. That has to be in both directions. That's something that I've talked to our guys about all the time. Ninety-nine percent of the time, what's good for the individual is good for the team, and vice versa." Before spring ball was finished, news surfaced that Penn State's leading re- ceiver in 2023, rising senior KeAndre Lambert-Smith, would be hitting the portal when it opened. Circumstances aside, that's a big hole to fill even though Lambert-Smith fizzled down the stretch last season. Penn State enters this portal cycle knowing more about its roster after spring practice. The Nittany Lions will look for, without promise of landing, a difference-maker at wide receiver. They'll be submissive to the market of what's out there, and then on top of that comes the harsh reality that a difference-maker, likely exceeding any wideout that they've landed from the portal to date, is not going to come cheap. Fixing that room, or at least patching it, will remain a challenge. Numbers are bloated from a scholarship per- spective, and there's an argument to be made that there is talent on hand. Still, a playoff hopeful cannot repeat the futility that Penn State experienced on the outside last season. In other words, finding that guy is easier said than done. Aside from the obvious need at wideout, the spring portal window is sometimes just about what's out there. Penn State landed Chop Robinson from Maryland in the spring two years ago, and that one turned out well. The Nittany Lions would love to shore up their linebacking corps this spring, but the promise of a starting spot is not on the table with redshirt junior Kobe King and sophomore Tony Rojas set to man the two main line- backer spots in Tom Allen's defense. The next few weeks will come fast and furious, and the Nittany Lions hope to come out level or a bit better. "It's a challenging time in college football," Franklin said. "It's a chal- lenging time for head coaches to make these types of decisions and the impact they have on your roster in a lot of dif- ferent ways." ■ Coach James Franklin and his staff will be looking for wide receivers and perhaps linebackers during the spring transfer window, but NIL considerations are expected to dictate much of the player movement in the coming weeks. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Lions Navigate A 'Challenging Time In College Football' JUDGMENT CALL O P I N I O N SEAN FITZ S E A N . F I T Z @ O N 3 . C O M