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Penn State tight end Jerry Cross officially enters the NCAA transfer portal

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•12/09/24•

GregPickel

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Tight end Jerry Cross (Credit: Ryan Snyder | Blue White Illustrated)

Penn State tight end Jerry Cross has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal. The On3 Industry four-star recruit in the Class of 2022 announced before the Lions’ trip to the Big Ten title game that he would be moving on following a career in State College that was derailed by injuries. Undergaduates could first enter the portal on Monday, and the Wisconsin native did so. He will have three years of eligibility at his next school.

“First and foremost I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Penn State university, Coach Franklin, and the entire coaching staff for the opportunity to be part of such a prestigious program,” Cross wrote on social media last week. “My time here has been filled with invaluable experiences, lifelong friendships, and lessons that have shaped me both on and off the field. To my teammates, thank you for the brotherhood, the hard work, and the memories we’ve created together. To the fans, your unwavering support has made every game at Beaver Stadium unforgettable and I am forever grateful to have been part of this special community.

“This decision was not made lightly, as Penn State will always hold a special place in my heart. However, I believe this is the best step for my personal growth and athletic career. Thank you once again to everyone at Penn State for your support and guidance. I am excited for the opportunities ahead and look forward to what the future holds.”

Cross played just 19 snaps for the Lions in 2024. He did not record any counting stats as a Nittany Lion.

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Tracking Penn State and the NCAA transfer portal

As of 11:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Cross is the only Penn State player to hit the portal. He will not be the only one to do so before the Lions’ 2025 roster is finalized. But, with the team set to compete in the College Football Playoff, the exits are not happening as fast as they did a year ago. As for any potential additions, the program will be “aggressive” in its pursuit of new talent.

“We’re moving, and I’m pushing my staff to be very aggressive,” Franklin said Sunday. “The challenge that I don’t think a lot of people think about is, typically when your season ends, and you’re in that time getting ready for a bowl game, you have time to sit down with all of your players and find out what’s going on, who’s coming back, who’s considering going into the transfer portal, who is going into the transfer portal. And a lot of those things impact your decision-making on who you’re going to try to go out and get to replace those guys with.

“So it’s hard to come up with a plan. We’ll do that this week. But we’re probably a week behind other programs. I didn’t really want to be having those conversations last week when we were getting ready for Oregon. So, that’s a little bit of a challenge. It’s hard to totally know what you want to do in the portal until you know exactly what’s going on with your current roster for next year. But I’ve asked our staff to be aggressive and move and make some decisions in positions that we think we’re going to have some needs. So, we’ll have a better idea this week.”

On3 is tracking the latest transfer portal movement here.

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