Penn State could have a second chance to secure a commitment from this Oregon transfer portal receiver
Penn State went 2-0 against Auburn on the football field the past two seasons, and the Nittany Lions are hoping to score a recruiting victory against the Tigers with a wide receiver in the transfer portal. And this wide receiver is one Penn State is very familiar with.
Penn State and Auburn are believed to be the final two schools in the running for Dont’e Thornton, a wide receiver who entered the transfer portal this month from Oregon. Prior to his commitment to Oregon in the Class of 2021, Thornton was previously committed to Penn State as early as 2019. Thornton, a four-star wide receiver in 2019, committed to Penn State in February 2019 but backed off his commitment later that summer. In 2020, Oregon emerged as the favorite to land Thornton’s commitment.
The Baltimore native is coming off a season with a late breakthrough on the field with 17 catches for 366 yards and a touchdown. Interestingly, according to our friends at Ducks Wire, neither Penn State nor Auburn were among the top schools in Thornton’s final stages of the recruiting process. Yet, it is these two schools who appear to be the biggest players in his transfer portal recruitment.
247Sports has yet to record any predictions for Thornton’s transfer destination at this time, but the On3 prediction machine is heavily in favor of Auburn. According to On3’s prediction calculation, Auburn has a 97.3% chance of securing Thornton’s transfer commitment. But it should be noted that figure could be heavily influenced by a recent official visit to Auburn’s campus last week.
Considering how many times Thornton visited Penn State during his high school recruiting process with unofficial visits, football camps, and official visits, the lack of visits to Penn State now should not be too concerning as he is likely extremely familiar with what Penn State’s campus is like both in and out of season. Those previous trips don’t weigh in on the current calculation from On3’s prediction machine.
Penn State is also believed to be active in the transfer portal with former West Virginia wide receiver [autotag]Kaden Prather[/autotag], another former recruiting target Penn State missed out on originally. Penn State has a need for wide receiver depth out of the transfer portal with [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag] declaring for the NFL draft and [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] graduating. Tinsley was brought to the Penn State program for the 2022 season out of the transfer portal from Western Kentucky.
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