Penn State 2024 transfer portal tracker: Who did the Lions add, lose, this winter and spring?

The short spring college football transfer portal window officially closed at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. It is true that since compliance departments have 48 hours to submit transfer paperwork, players who are grad transfers can still pop into the portal as late as Friday. But, by and large, the movement ahead of the 2024 season is over for Penn State and everyone else across the sport.

For the Lions, the spring window was rather quiet until it closed with a flurry of activity. The team saw a handful of players leave and, so far, it has made no additions while not showing a ton of interest in possibly doing so. That is not a surprise based on the way Penn State coach James Franklin answered a question about the portal after the Blue-White game. Instead of listing out positions the program might be interested in adding bodies at, he talked about the honest conversations being had with players on the roster and his focus on making decisions that have the players’ best interest in mind.

“For me to make the best decisions for our program, I want to hear from all the players and staff and coaches and that’s including decisions like this,” Franklin said. “But it’s a challenging time in college football. It’s challenging time for head coaches to make these types of decisions and the impact that has on on your roster and a lot of different ways and a lot of different implications.”

In other words, a program better be right if it adds new faces now. The chances of being right and a less-than-stellar crop of portal entries led Penn State to stand pat regarding inward movement. Below, we look at the losses outward and what they mean.

What did Penn State lose in the 2024 spring transfer portal window?

Starting on offense, the Lions lost production and depth at receiver. While many fans will view the loss of KeAndre Lambert-Smith to Auburn addition by subtraction, it cannot be overlooked that ‘KLS’ took with him the most receptions (53), yards (673), and touchdowns (4) from the receivers room in 2023. There is no question that he faded down the stretch. There’s also no question that he was the Lions’ most proven returner. It hopes to offset that loss with the winter portal window addition of Julian Fleming.

Receivers coach Marques Hagans did not just lose Lambert-Smith after spring practice, of course. Reserve Malick Meiga also moved on. He played just 45 snaps on offense, though he was a special teams captain. First-year coordinator Justin Lustig is likely more impacted by Meiga’s departure than Hagans is. And, Malik McClain is also leaving before his second preseason camp in State College.

Other departures on offense this spring included walk-on running back David Kency Jr and offensive lineman Golden Israel-Achumba.

Only two departures came on the other side of the ball. Defensive tackle Davon Townley Jr., entered the portal for the second year in a row and is expected to actually move on this time after returning for the 2023 season. Maintaining his weight was long an issue. It limited him to just 10 games over three seasons in State College. All the Lions lose with his departure is down the chart depth.

Last but not least, Penn State lost a key backup and potential special teams contributor in the secondary this spring with safety King Mack electing to leave after one year in State College.

Full Penn State 2024 transfer portal recap

Here’s a rundown of who the Lions added and lost between the winter and spring transfer portal windows:

Added:
WR Julian Fleming
OT Nolan Rucci
DE Jordan Mayer
CB AJ Harris
CB Jalen Kimber
K/P Chase Meyer

Lost:
RB London Montgomery – TBD
WR Cristian Driver – Minnesota
WR Dante Cephas: Kansas State
OL Ibrahim Traore – TBD
OL Golden Israel-Achumba – TBD
WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith – Auburn
WR Malick Meiga – TBD
DT Jordan van den Berg – Georgia Tech
DT Davon Townley Jr. – TBD
DE Jake Wilson – TBD
WR Malik McClain – TBD
S King Mack – TBD
P Alex Bacchetta – Rice

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