Penn State set to pursue former Michigan State safety via portal
It was only a matter of time until we started to learn who Penn State plans target via the transfer portal.
Behind the scenes, James Franklin’s coaches and recruiting staff have been targeting players for weeks now. Our sources have indicated that they hope to get players on campus before the dead period begins Dec. 13.
On Friday, one of those targets emerged when former Michigan State safety Michael Gravely Jr., posted on Twitter that the Nittany Lions had extended a scholarship offer. He had only entered the portal about three hours earlier. He also posted that Toledo offered about an hour after Penn State.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, Gravely just completed his freshman season in East Lansing. According to Pro Football Focus, he didn’t play any snaps in 2021, on either defense or special teams. That means that he’ll still have four years of eligibility remaining.
Although safety wasn’t expected to be a position of need for Penn State, it became one over the past 10 days or so, beginning when former four-star Tyler Rudolph announced his exit last Wednesday. Then, just last night, it became clear that another former four-star, Michigan native Enzo Jennings, had also decided to look elsewhere.
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Moving forward, what happens with Ji’Ayir Brown should be one for Penn State fans to watch closely. If he were to leave early, the Nittany Lions could be down to just Keaton Ellis, Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley.
However, they do have a handful of young safeties coming in four-star prospects KJ Winston and Mehki Flowers. Also, junior college prospect Tyrece Mills, also from Lackawanna, is expected to play the position.
Moving forward, we would expect Penn State to try and host Gravely at some point over the next week. He earned about a dozen offers coming out of high school, although Penn State wasn’t one of them. Notable schools included Boston College, Cincinnati, Colorado, Pitt, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
Gravely was a former first-team all-state selection during his time at Glenville in Cleveland, Ohio. He was an On3 consensus three-star coming out of high school.
