Tag: t.a. cunningham

Penn State freshman lineman T.A. Cunningham entering transfer portal

Penn State freshman DT T.A. Cunningham is reportedly planning to enter the transfer portal.

While Penn State might be getting prepared for their College Football Playoff matchup against SMU after coming up short in the Big Ten championship game over the weekend, they also have to deal with the transfer portal opening up.

The Nittany Lions haven’t been as adversely affected like some other teams around the country, but they still have seen some talent leave campus that they certainly would have liked to keep in Happy Valley.

One of those players could be T.A. Cunningham.

Cunningham has reportedly plans to enter the transfer portal. The freshman defensive tackle, who was a three-star in the 2024 class, did not appear in any games this season for Penn State even when the depth chart at that position got a bit thin.

James Franklin and his staff were excited about getting the 6-foot-5 interior prospect to campus after he had spent a ton of time transferring around to different high schools during his prep career.

They figured with a stable environment, that would allow Cunningham to reach his ceiling which they thought was much higher than the three-star designation he received from national recruiting services.

But, after one year in State College, it seems like he could be on the move again.

The portal opened on Dec. 9 and remains open until Dec. 28, so there is still a chance Cunningham could come back to Penn State if he looks around and doesn’t find a suitor that is a better situation for him than the Nittany Lions.

After redshirting this fall, he will have four more seasons of eligibility remaining.

Penn State player availability report for Kent State updated

Penn State has posted its player availability report for today’s game against Kent State.

Penn State will be without one of its top defensive players on the roster this weekend when the Nittany Lions host Kent State for a mid-Saturday afternoon non-conference matchup. Head coach James Franklin announced this week that the team will be without safety, Kevin Winston Jr., for an extended period of time due to a long-term injury. This week’s player availability confirmed that for this week with Winston Jr. being among the players officially ruled out on the Penn State player availability report.

Big Ten teams are required to provide a player availability report prior to their respective games each week as part of a new conference policy put into place for the 2023 season.

The following players were listed as out for Penn State for the Kent State game.

  • [autotag]Kevin Winston Jr.[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jaxon Smolik[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Kari Jackson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Keon Wylie[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Zuriah Fisher[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mason Robinson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mehki Flowers[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Andrew Rappleyea[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Sam Siafa[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag]
  • [autotag]De’Andre Cook[/autotag]
  • [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag]

Penn State hosts Kent State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

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Penn State player availability report for Week 1 at West Virginia

Penn State’s updated player availability reports confirms a couple of players expected to be out of action.

Penn State’s first road trip to open the season will see the roster without a number of players available. Penn State’s player availability report was released two hours before kicking off at West Virginia, and a total of 14 players have officially been ruled out of action.

Some of the names appearing on the list were not surprising to see. Linebacker Keon Wylie has previously been reported to be out of action for a significant period of time since the spring. Backup quarterback Jaxon Smolik was also banged up with an undisclosed injury during camp.

One of the notable players to miss the West Virginia game includes tight end Khalil Dinkins, who is expected to be a key alternative to star Tyler Warren at the position. James Franklin did note this week that Dinkins had been getting banged up leading up to the game, however.

The following players have been ruled out for Penn State in Week 1:

  • [autotag]Jaxon Smolik[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Khalil Dinkins[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mylachi Williams[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Kari Jackson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Keon Wylie[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Zuriah Fisher[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mason Robinson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jerry Cross[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Sam Siafa[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag]
  • [autotag]De’Andre Cook[/autotag]
  • [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag]

Big Ten schools are required to provide a player availability report no later than two hours prior to a scheduled kickoff. The policy was put into effect in 2023 and has seen a few conferences follow that idea in 2024.

West Virginia has not had any reported injuries this week. The Big 12 does not have the same kind of rules requiring player availability reports for its members. The SEC and MAC each enacted a similar policy beginning this season following the Big Ten’s lead.

Penn State and West Virginia kick off the season with their game at noon Eastern on Fox.

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Biggest theme of Penn State’s 2024 class: balance

Penn State’s 2024 class offers one of the more balanced recruiting hauls in the country.

With the first and busiest day of the college football early signing period behind us, we can confirm that Penn State signed all 25 of its Class of 2024 commits earlier today. It was a “drama-free” signing day according to [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] who spoke after all the commits had signed. The class is now locked in for next year so let’s break it down.

Penn State returns a boatload of starting-caliber players from last season but will lose several starters to the NFL with more expected to announce in the coming month. Penn State has never been a heavy transfer portal school and relies mainly on keeping its returning players intact while reloading with a strong freshman class.

This years’ class is ranked 14th in the country by 247Sports Composite and 16th by On3. With 12 offensive commits and 13 defensive commits this year’s group is evenly balanced eluding to the fact that Franklin and his staff want to add quality depth around the board and fill in any neccessary holes from departing players.

From a positon standpoint is was more of the same type of balance across the board:

  • 7 skill players: QB [autotag]Ethan Grunkemeyer[/autotag], running backs [autotag]Quintin Martin[/autotag] and [autotag]Corey Smith[/autotag], wide recievers [autotag]Josiah Brown[/autotag], [autotag]Tyseer Denmark[/autotag], and [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Luke Reynolds[/autotag]
  • 5 offensive lineman: [autotag]Eagan Boyer[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Brewer[/autotag], [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag], [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag], [autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag]
  • 6 defensive lineman: [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag], [autotag]DeAndre Cook[/autotag], [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag], [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylen Harvey[/autotag], and [autotag]Mylachi Williams[/autotag]
  • 5 secondary players: cornerbacks Antoine Belgrave-Shorter, Kenneth Woseley, Jon Mitchell, and safties Dejuan Lane, and Vaboue Toure
  • 2 linebackers: Kari Jackson and Anthony Specca

No one position or side of the ball dominated the 2024 recruiting cycle for Penn State, but thats a good thing because it shows that Penn State has talent everywhere. Three wide recievers were added to arguably the worst room in 2023 and a playmaking running back was added to a room featuring two former 5-star recruits. The trenches were reloaded with talent and many of the offensive line commits should challenge for starting spots in their first year.

In the time of the transfer portal and NIL perhaps a early signing day like the one Penn State had today is not exciting, but it does not matter Franklin’s method of “underpromise, overdeliver” method still produces wins. It has in the past. Penn State’s 2024 class is balanced, solid, and most importantly adds talent across the board which is key for sustained success.

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Which Class of 2024 players will enroll early at Penn State?

It looks like a good percentage of Penn State’s Class of 2024 will be on campus in January to get a jump with offseason workouts.

Now that Penn State has officially signed its Class of 2024 on the first day of the early signing period, or at least all of the commitments they had lined up, the page is quickly turning forward. Not to look past the upcoming Peach Bowl against Ole Miss later this month, but winter workouts and spring football will be here before you know it! And it seems a good percentage of Penn State’s Class of 2024 is expected to be on campus and ready to get started working with their new teammates and coaches.

Here are the players in Penn State’s Class of 2024 that are reportedly expected to enroll early in January and get started with the program:

  • DL [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag]
  • DB [autotag]Antoine Belgrave-Shorter[/autotag]
  • OL [autotag]Eagan Boyer[/autotag]
  • WR [autotag]Josiah Brown[/autotag]
  • DL [autotag]De’Andre Cook[/autotag]
  • OL [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag]
  • DL [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag]
  • DL [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag]
  • QB [autotag]Ethan Grunkemeyer[/autotag]
  • DL [autotag]Jaylen Harvey[/autotag]
  • LB [autotag]Kari Jackson[/autotag]
  • RB [autotag]Quinton Martin[/autotag]
  • DB [autotag]Jon Mitchell[/autotag]
  • TE [autotag]Luke Reynolds[/autotag]
  • OL [autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag]
  • DB [autotag]Vaboue Toure[/autotag]

Every other member of Penn State’s Class of 2024 will join the program in the summer.

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Early Signing Day Tracker: Say hello to Penn State’s Class of 2024

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting …

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting to receive signed National Letters of Intent from their verbal commitments to make things official. There could always be a player or two who hold off until the traditional signing period in February for one reason or another, but Penn State is hoping for a pretty simple and straightforward opening to the early signing period.

Here is a look at each player who committed to Penn State in the Class of 2024 recruiting calendar and an update on which players have signed in the early signing period.

Where Penn State’s Class of 2024 ranks nationally after big recruiting weekend

Penn State’s Class of 2024 gets a bump in the national rankings following two four-star additions this weekend.

Penn State had another productive weekend on the recruiting trail. On Friday, Penn State received a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Liam Andrews out of Massachusetts. On Saturday, another four-star defensive lineman, T.A. Cunningham from Miami, gave his commitment to the Nittany Lions. And for a brief moment, Penn State’s Class of 2024 jumped back into the top five nationally.

247Sports bumped Penn State up from no. 7 before the commitment from Andrews up to no. 5 following the Cunningham commitment. But Penn State settled at no. 6 as the weekend went on with Alabama edging the Nittany Lions for the no. 5 spot in the composite rankings calculated by 247Sports.

Penn State also has a solid spot in the top 10 from On3. On3’s team rankings has Penn State at no. 7 in the nation, one spot behind Clemson and one spot ahead of USC.

Rivals also ranks Penn State’s Class of 2024 at no. 7 on its updated class rankings. Penn State sits one spot behind Oregon and one spot ahead of Tennessee according to Rivals.

All three recruiting outlets agree on the top three schools in the nation right now for the Class of 2024. Georgia takes the top spot on all three, followed by Ohio State and then Florida. Michigan is fourth on the list according to 247Sports and Rivals, but Alabama is fourth on the rankings from On3, followed by the Wolverines.

247Sports ranks Alabama fifth on their list, followed by Penn State, USC, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M, respectively, to complete the top 10. Tennessee and Texas A&M come in at no. 9 and no. 10 on the On3 list behind Penn State and USC.

Rivals has Notre Dame the highest ranked among the recruiting outlets at no. 5, followed by Oregon, Penn Stae, and Tennessee. Clemson and Texas A&M complete the top 10 with Alabama nowhere to be found, relatively speaking (no. 16).

With 24 commitments on the board for the Class of 2024, Penn State appears to be trending toward a possible top 10 class. But with a mostly full class leaving little more room for additions while other schools appear to have more scholarships to fill, holding onto a top 10 class could prove to be difficult. Regardless, Penn State is lining up another one of the top classes in the Big Ten to keep things stabilized in the years to come.

The biggest problem, however, is Big Ten foes Michigan and Ohio State look to be pulling in classes ranked higher, and incoming Big Ten member USC (in 2024) is a potential threat to jump Penn State when all is said and done with the Class of 2024. But with the age of a 12-team College Football Playoff also coming, Penn State is looking to be in pretty good shape with its roster.

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Penn State Class of 2024 profile: Four-star defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham

A quick snapshot profile of Penn State 2024 four-star defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham.

Penn State certainly focused heavily on improving the quality depth on the defensive line in the back half of its Class of 2024 efforts. That mission continued with the commitment of four-star defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham out of Miami, Florida. Cunningham has been considered a healthy Penn State lean for a while as his recruiting process continued, and a scanning of his Twitter timeline and retweets supported that argument for those paying attention.

Cunningham was the fifth defensive lineman to commit in Penn State’s Class of 2024 recruiting haul, and the fifth to do so since the naming of Deion Barnes as the team’s defensive line coach. Coincidence? Perhaps not so much.

Here is a snapshot look at the recruiting profile of one of Penn State’s future defensive line stars.

Four-star defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham chooses Penn State over Texas A&M

Texas A&M loses out to Penn State for talented DL T.A. Cunningham. However, nothing is set in stone until signing day.

You can’t win them all, and after several weeks of Aggie-based recruiting hype surrounding 2024 four-star T.A. Cunningham, the Miami, Florida product chose Penn State over the Maroon and White on Saturday afternoon, and even though it seems like Texas A&M is entirely out of the running for the future defensive star, nothing is set in stone until National Signing Day in February.

According to 247Sports, Cunningham is the 29th-ranked defensive tackle, and the 34th-ranked player in Florida,

Last weekend, Cunningham revealed several revealing messages through his Twitter account, including a photo wearing an Aggie jersey, while tweeting a “thumbs up” emoji the following Sunday.

It was a stretch, but the fact that the Aggies were in the running till the very end speaks volumes to how well Jimbo Fisher and his staff have left their mark on every 2024 prospect they’ve offered. I guess communication between both parties should continue despite his commitment to the Nittany Lions. Still, in all seriousness, I look forward to seeing Cunningham make an instant impact on the field wherever he ends up when it’s all said and done.

Texas A&M’s 2024 recruiting class is currently the 10th-ranked class in 247Sports’ Team Rankings with 18 verbal commits, including two defensive line commits in four-star Deaylin Evans and three-star Gabriel Reliford.

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Penn State adds four-star commitment from T.A. Cunningham in 2024

T.A. Cunningham is Penn State’s second four-star defensive lineman commitment of the weekend.

The good news just keeps on coming for Penn State football. A day after securing a key four-star commitment for a defensive lineman, another one joined the Class of 2024. [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag] of Miami, Florida announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions on Saturday, becoming the fifth defensive lineman in the current recruiting cycle to join the class since the naming of Deion Barnes as defensive line coach.

Cunningham, a 6′-6″ 275-pound recruit, is rated as a four-star recruit by 247Sports and their composite rankings. The composite rankings have Cunningham listed as the 234th-best player overall in the nation and 30th top defensive linemen in the Class of 2024. He is also rated as the 34th-best overall recruit in the talent-rich state of Florida.

Cunningham committed to Penn State over offers from Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M in the final stage of his recruiting process. Cunningham made his official visit to Penn State last month, marking the final official trip on his calendar before announcing his decision.

The commitment of Cunningham comes roughly 24 hours after Penn State added a commitment from Massachusetts lineman Liam Andrews, who was originally recruited as an offensive lineman but has since announced he will be focusing on defense in college. The latest pickups for Penn State’s recruiting efforts gives Penn State five defensive linemen in the Class of 2024 with edge rushers Mylachi Williams and Xavier Gilliam and defensive lineman De’Andre Cook in tow.

All five players have committed since Penn State announced the promotion of Deion Barnes to defensive line coach. Before that announcement was made, Penn State’s steady Claass of 2024 efforts netted zero defensive linemen.

Penn State’s Class of 2024 now has 24 commits on the board and continues to be a top-10 class. Prior to the start of the weekend, Penn State’s class ranked seventh nationally according to the 247Sporys composite ranking. The Nittany Lions have now been bumped up to no. 6 in the nation with the latest recruiting headlines this weekend.

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