Penn State makes offer to wide receiver target in transfer portal

Penn State is wasting no time going after a key wide receiver in the transfer portal.

With a clear need for playmakers at the wide receiver position, and with a new offensive coordinator coming in to hopefully create opportunities for explosive plays, Penn State is once again attacking the wide receiver position in the transfer portal. And on Thursday, Penn State was one of a number of offers extended to Ja’Mori Maclin of North Texas.

Maclin announced he entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. Other programs to extend offers include Michigan State, Ole Miss, Colorado, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas A&M. More will likely be coming too.

Maclin caught 57 passes for 1,004 yards and 11 touchdowns for North Texas this season. With the Mean Green missing out on the bowl season, his stats are in the books for the 2023 season.

Maclin was a three-star recruit out of high school in the Class of 2020. This will be his second time in the transfer portal. After initially starting his college football career at Missouri, where his older cousin Jeremy Maclin made a name for himself before a career in the NFL, Ja’Mori Maclin played in three games during the 2020 season and missed the 2021 season due to injury. He then transferred from Missouri to North Texas in 2022. Maclin was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team in 2022 by the coaches of the conference.

Penn State has added a key wide receiver to the roster in each of the past two seasons through the transfer portal. Mithcell Tinsley transferred to Penn State from Western Kentucky in 2022 and Dante Cephas came to Penn State from Kent State for the 2023 season. But Tinsley and Cephas each came off of seasons with 1,000 or more receiving yards only to see their offensive production take a dip with Penn State. Of course, that was under former offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. On the same day Maclin was offered by Penn State, the Nittany Lions found a new offensive coordinator with Andy Kotelnicki reportedly being hired from Kansas.

The NCAA transfer portal officially opens on Monday, Dec. 4. It will close on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.