Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/787374
campus, he played in 10 games as a
freshman, making a season-high three
tackles against Rutgers. He leaves Penn
State with 29 total tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Thrift, a 6-3, 290-pound prospect from
Monroeville, Pa., never got on the field
for the Nittany Lions. He had enrolled at
Penn State last May as part of the Class of
2016, transferring after a year at Lack-
awanna Community College, where he
made 14 tackles and three sacks in his
only season. A second-team All-State
player as a senior at Gateway, he had ini-
tially signed with Temple and used his
redshirt before leaving for Lackawanna.
He came to Penn State with three years of
eligibility remaining but didn't see action
in any games last season.
No reason was given for Thrift's de-
parture. As of mid-February, he had not
announced any plans to continue his
playing career elsewhere.
Franklin said he expected that some
players would not be returning for the
2017 season. "It came out about as we
thought, that we would probably lose
two," he said. "I thought maybe there
was a chance of four, but it ended up
being two, and I'm pleased for that."
With White and Thrift leaving, the
Lions will have seven scholarship defen-
sive tackles on campus this spring:
Cothran, Givens, Tyrell Chavis, Parker
Cothren, Robert Windsor, Ellison Jordan
and Antonio Shelton. Jordan and Shelton
will be redshirt freshmen this coming
season, but the Lions' other five defen-
sive tackles all saw extensive action in
2016. In addition, Penn State signed two
defensive tackles in its 2017 recruiting
class: Fred Hansard and Corey Bolds.
Walk-ons set to bolster
Nittany Lions' roster
In addition to its 21-member recruit-
ing class, Penn State is getting set to add
a number of invited walk-ons to its ros-
ter this coming season.
Crae McCracken, a football and
wrestling standout from Loyalsock
Township High near Williamsport, Pa.,
announced earlier this month that he
will be attending PSU.
McCracken was an All-State o