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Penn State defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•12/09/24•

GregPickel

T.A. Cunningham Penn State
T.A. Cunningham/Twitter

Penn State defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal. On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported the news. The Class of 2024 signee spent just one season on campus. He had been listed as OUT on the program’s availability report since Week 1 while dealing with an undisclosed injury. He took a redshirt year this fall after enrolling early and thus will have four years of eligibility remaining at his next stop.

Cunningham is the second Nittany Lion to look for a new home since the regular season ended. Tight end Jerry Cross was the first. He said he would do so before the Big Ten title game. The portal officially opened for undergraduates on Monday.

A Loganville, Ga., native, Cunningham was a three-star recruit in the On3 Industry Rankings.

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“What I’d say set Penn State apart would just be the people. I’ve been getting recruited by coach Franklin and their staff, coach Kenny Sanders, I’ve been talking to these guys since pretty much my freshman year,” Cunnginham told BWI when he committed. “They’ve been there from the jump and they’ve stayed consistent with everything. They were very persistent and made sure that I knew how important I was to them, how much they believed in me and my ability. Even with some recent dropoffs, with everything with the CIF, dealing with injuries and things like that, they see past it and saw me through all of that stuff. I really just see Penn State as a genuine program that likes me for more than a football player.”

Lions fans never got to see Cunningham the football player in action, though. Penn State signed three defensive tackles in the Class of 2024: Cunningham, Xavier Gilliam, and De’Andre Cook. Now, the first one on that list is already moving on.

“Well, it’s tough, especially in the Big Ten, to play the defensive tackle position,” Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey said earlier this year. I mean, it’s tough to play in there when you’re a 270, 280-pound guy, and that’s kind of why I mentioned X over the other two right now is the other two are very much developmental from a size standpoint. Now, they are very imposing. All three of them are imposing individuals, T.A. and Cook. They have length, they have range, but right now, they’re lacking the mass to really get in there and bang with the big guys, especially in this league, as opposed to X.”

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