Penn State freshman DT enters the transfer portal

Penn State football has officially lost the first Nittany Lion from the defensive side of the ball to the transfer portal. On Monday, true freshman defensive lineman TA Cunningham announced that he would be leaving Happy Valley after one season.

Hayes Fawcett of On3 first reported the news. Cunningham did not appear in game action during his short tenure with Penn State football.

BREAKING: Penn State True Freshman DL T.A. Cunningham plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports

The 6’6 285 DL will have all 4 years of eligibility remaining

Held 50+ Offers out of HS https://t.co/SA3WIKWSTS pic.twitter.com/QtBIMAX33z

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 9, 2024

A three-star recruit in the class of 2024, Cunningham committed to James Franklin and the Nittany Lions in July of 2023. A native of Loganville, Georgia, Cunningham chose Penn State football over Georgia, Georgia Tech, and USC, among others.

Cunningham joins tight end Jerry Cross as the second Nittany Lion to enter the portal since the end of the regular season. Receiver Feyisayo Oluleye also announced his intention to enter the portal last month after leaving the program in October.

“It’s hard to come up with a plan. We’ll do that this week. But we’re probably a week behind other programs,” Franklin said on Sunday.  “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.”

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