Penn State freshmen, transfers get first jersey numbers; who will sport which uniform?

Penn State freshmen and transfers have their first jersey numbers as Nittany Lions. The program put out its first roster of the 2025 offseason on Thursday night as winter workouts are underway and head coach James Franklin is busy with plenty of tasks, including previously hiring new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, searching for a new running backs coach, and seeking off-field staffers, among other things.

“This time of year, we’re busy,” Franklin said back on Tuesday. “We’ve gotten back into the weight room—I think we talked about this before—the players had about two weeks off after the season; long season. So they had two weeks off.

“We’re getting back into workouts now. We’ll get ready to get started with winter workouts here pretty soon, which is our morning mat workouts, I think most of you guys know that we typically have anywhere between eight to 10. Again, based on the schedule, we’ll probably have six of those this year. We have to make modifications based on the calendar and how long we played into the season.”

Here’s the list of freshmen and transfer numbers.

Penn State freshmen numbers

No. 3: WR Koby Howard

No. 5: CB Daryus Dixson

No. 6: WR Matthew Outten

No. 11: LB LaVar Arrington II

No. 14: S Braswell ‘Braz’ Thomas

No. 16: QB Bekkem Kritza

No. 23: RB Tiqwai Hayes

No. 25: LB Alex Tatsch

No. 43: LB Dayshaun Burnett

No. 51: Michael Troutman

No. 52: DT Randy Adirika

No. 77: OL Owen Aliciene

No. 81: WR Lyrick Samuel

No. 83: TE Brian Kortovich

No. 88: TE Andrew Olesh

No. 99: DE Yvan Kemajou

Penn State transfer numbers

No. 5: WR Devonte Ross

No. 11: WR Kyron Hudson

No. 16: S King Mack

No. 34: DT Owen Wafle

No. 45: DE Enai White

No. 54: T.J. Shanahan

Transfer rundown

From previous BWI reporting:

Former USC receiver Kyron Hudson is listed at 6-foot-1, 207 pounds (the Trojans had him at 6-1, 205), the California native caught 38 passes for 462 yards and three touchdowns in 2024 and sports a career line of 57-655-5. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

One-time Texas A&M defensive lineman Enai White. The Philadelphia native fought injuries during his time with the Aggies but still recorded 11 tackles and two sacks. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Penn State lists him at 6-foot-5, 262 pounds. That’s a big jump in weight from his last listing at A&M, which had him at 6-5, 245. White has two seasons of eligibility left.

Troy All-Sun Belt receiver Devonte Ross is 5-foot-11, 171 pounds. That marks a 10-pound gain from the 5-11, 161-pound listing on the Trojans’ 2024 roster. The Cartersville, Ga., native caught 76 passes for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns, all of which were career highs. He has a career line of 129-1,618-14 and also returned kicks and punts for Troy, one of which he took back for a touchdown last fall. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

Former Texas A&M offensive lineman T.J. Shanahan is listed at 6-foot-4, 329 pounds, one pound lighter than the 330 the Aggies last listed him at. The Orlando, Fla., native who played his high school ball at Westlake High in Texas can play center or guard. He played in 10 games and started five for the Aggies last year. Shanahan has three years of eligibility remaining.

One-time Michigan defensive lineman Owen Wafle (pronounced Way-full) joins Penn State after one year with the Wolverines. The Middletown, N.J., native did not play, meaning he has four years of eligibility remaining. He is listed at 6-foot-2, 286 pounds, which is lighter than the 6-2, 298 that Michigan had him out.

King Mack left the Lions following the 2023 season, transferred to Alabama, and now is back in State College. The Miami, Fla., native has two years of eligibility left. He made 14 tackles for the Crimson Tide, giving him 17 for his career. Penn State puts him at 5-foot-10, 192 pounds, which is lighter than the 5-10, 206 Alabama had him at