Jan. 11—Penn State helped fill the void left by the loss of its top three cornerbacks with the addition Thursday of Georgia’s A.J. Harris and Florida’s Jalen Kimber from the transfer portal.
Harris and Kimber give the Nittany Lions more experience at cornerback with Kalen King, Johnny Dixon and Daequan Hardy moving onto the NFL. King was named to the All-Big Ten second team, and Dixon and Hardy to the third team.
With King and Dixon opting out of the Peach Bowl, Penn State started Hardy and sophomore Cam Miller at cornerback in the 38-25 loss to Ole Miss. Freshmen Zion Tracy and Elliot Washington also saw significant playing time.
Harris and Kimber became the fifth and sixth players to transfer to Penn State since the end of the regular season. They join Ohio State wide receiver Julian Fleming, Wisconsin offensive tackle Nolan Rucci, Wisconsin defensive end Jordan Mayer and Tulsa kicker Chase Meyer.
The 6-1, 187-pound Harris, a former five-star prospect, played in seven games this past season for the Bulldogs and made eight tackles. He was a standout at Phenix City Central in Alabama, the same high school that produced former Nittany Lions cornerback Christian Campbell.
He was rated the No. 39 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, and has three years of eligibility remaining. Penn State cornerbacks coach Terry Smith recruited him before he chose Georgia.
Penn State will be the third stop for the 6-0, 185-pound Kimber, who played two seasons at Georgia before he played the last two seasons at Florida. He had announced in late December that he would transfer to Louisville, but he changed his mind.
He played in every game the last two seasons for the Gators with 11 starts in 2023. He finished second on the team in pass breakups with five and had 23 tackles and a fumble…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-lands-georgia-florida-045000492.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-01-12 04:50:00
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