Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
Higgins had been productive during his time with the Colonels, catching 87 passes for 1,151 yards and 13 touchdowns, but there are lots of productive players in the portal every year, many of whom fade into anonymity when they attempt the transi- tion from the Group of Five to the Power Four. Ranked by On3 as the No. 57 wide receiver available, Higgins signed with Iowa State in December 2022 amid little fanfare. To the rest of the world, his decision to be- come a Cyclone was just a line in the transactions roundup at the bot- tom of a web page. To Matt Campbell, however, it was a big deal. The eighth-year Iowa State coach had a history of finding underval- ued players and developing them into stars. He thought he'd found a difference- maker in Higgins, and he was soon proven right. In two seasons with the Cyclones, Hig- gins caught 140 passes for 2,166 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning third-team AP All-America honors as a senior. This past April, Higgins was chosen by the Hous- ton Texans with the 34th overall pick in the NFL Draft. He was the fourth receiver taken and the fourth-highest pick of any player in Iowa State history to that point. To Campbell, Higgins' success is em- blematic of the methodical approach to talent evaluation that he and his staff have used in order to maximize their returns in the portal — an approach they're now bringing to Penn State. "We have a process," said Campbell, who was introduced as PSU's new head coach in December. "We know what we're looking for in the transfer portal and have to use that to continue to supplement our football team. Nobody will be better at developing our student-athletes and our high school football players than us." Leveling Up That process does not involve star rat- ings. Higgins was unranked by three of the four major recruiting services com- ing out of the Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Fla. The one service that did rank him had him listed as a two-star prospect. Campbell didn't care about any of that. 1 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 Quarterback Rocco Becht is going to finish his career at Penn State after starting 39 games over the past four seasons at Iowa State. PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS W hen wide receiver Jayden Hig- gins entered the transfer por- tal after two seasons at Eastern Kentucky, he didn't have the kind of résumé that was going to set off an NIL bidding war between elite programs. WINDS WINDS OF OF CHANGE CHANGE Matt Campbell remakes PSU's football roster with help from a big contingent of Cyclone standouts M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M