Penn State football hosts coveted transfer portal wide receiver

Penn State football is making a play for one of the most sought-after pass catchers on the spring transfer portal market. First reported by 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the Nittany Lions are hosting former Syracuse wide receiver Trebor Pena on Friday.

Pena quickly became one of the top receivers available when he entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. The rising redshirt senior broke out for the Orange last fall with an ACC-best 84 receptions for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. The 2024 second-team all-conference honoree also has the fourth-highest career kick return average among active FBS players at 27 yards.

Coveted Syracuse wide receiver transfer Trebor Pena is visiting Penn State today, a source tells @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Had 84 catches last year, was an All-ACC selection and ranks as one of the top players in the transfer portal.https://t.co/10Sz3YwNKg pic.twitter.com/7phj3A7Wdc

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 18, 2025

NIL considerations were reportedly a major factor in Pena’s decision to leave Syracuse.

“With all due respect to everybody in the country, to every wide receiver, to everybody that’s doing all this stuff — if you want to make $2 million at wide receiver, that’s the little homie over at Ohio State,” Orange head coach Fran Brown said this week. “Ain’t nobody else making that money. I ain’t giving no wide receiver no $2 million, man, in college.”

From Ocean Township (NJ), Pena was a three-star prospect in the class of 2020. He was not offered by Penn State out of high school. Currently the No. 2 uncommitted receiver in the portal per 247Sports, Miami and Texas Tech are also reportedly in the mix.

Will Penn State make the roster space to add another wide receiver?

With 116 players on the roster, 15 of whom are receivers, the Nittany Lions will have to make some adjustments to bring anyone in from the transfer portal this spring. However, despite landing Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross from the portal this winter, the program has signaled its willingness to bring in more talent ahead of the 2025 season.

“I think you got to be in the world that when you lose someone to the NFL, you lose someone as dynamic as Abdul Carter, that is really hard to replace,” athletic director Pat Kraft said of the portal in February. “You’ve got to go backfill. You got to go create depth. You lose, you got injuries, you have different things. So that’s where the portal, I think, comes into play, but you really got to evaluate that.

“We all know we need wide receiver help, so we got to go find one. I think we have some really good ones in the building, but everyone knows that’s not a secret. So you go find that. You’ve got to trust that process…If you can come and help us win and do great things and bring that and maintain the culture here, then great.”

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