Penn State DB transfer Mehki Flowers signs with Akron

Former Penn State defensive back Mehki Flowers has signed with Akron out of the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

Flowers had spent the past three seasons with the Nittany Lions. He appeared in 14 games during his time in Happy Valley, logging a pair of assisted tackles for their defense. Flowers made a position change to receiver for the 2024 season but did not record any stats.

A native of Harrisburg, which is just an hour and a half outside of University Park, played his high school football at Central Dauphin East where was the No. 187 overall prospect in the 2022 cycle.

As a four-star recruit, he was rated as the No. 5 ATH in the class and the No. 5 player out of the state of Pennsylvania, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which is a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Flowers was the seventh highest-rated prospect from a top-ten class in 2022.

His transfer came shortly after the College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame as Penn State finished its 2024-25 campaign 13-3 overall as the Fiesta Bowl champions and Big Ten runners-up.

No team in State College has ever won 13 games in a single season and were undefeated (5-0) in true road games this year after ending the regular season 11-1 (8-1, Big Ten). In the end, head coach James Franklin and his squad finished just shy of playing in the national championship game, which would have been a rematch against the only team that defeated them in the regular season, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The initial portal officially opened on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, but Flowers didn’t enter the portal until Jan. 13.

More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers. That means roughly 25 percent of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year, per On3’s Pete Nakos. It remains to be seen how those numbers stack up during the 2024-25 school year as we await the opening of the spring window.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.