Penn State football hosting second 5 star transfer portal CB this week

Penn State football may have got off to a slow start in transfer portal season, but James Franklin is firing on all cylinders now. Days after landing a commitment from ex-Ohio State WR Julian Fleming, the Nittany Lions had former Georgia five-star CB AJ Harris on campus for a midweek visit. Today, we learned that a second former five-star corner has arrived in State College, as Penn State is currently playing host to Texas A&M/North Carolina CB Tony Grimes on Friday.

Tony Grimes arrives at Penn State for official visit

After last week’s Peach Bowl, it was clear that Penn State football would have to look to the transfer portal for talent in the secondary. While the Nittany Lions have several young talented DBs, the unit was outmatched by Ole Miss to the tune of 394 passing yards on Saturday.

As the week kicked off, it seemed like former Texas A&M CB Tony Grimes would be a priority for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions. Grimes, a former five-star prospect and the top player in Virginia in the 2020 cycle, spoke highly of Franklin and the Penn State coaching staff before committing to North Carolina in 2020. He had 97 tackles at North Carolina between 2020 and 2022 before transferring to Texas A&M, where he sat out this entire season due to injury. 

And Penn State football is indeed targeting Tony Grimes. Friday morning, Grimes posted on social media that he was in State College visiting Franklin and the Nittany Lions.

PSU Visit. #psu pic.twitter.com/VLCBOayHtx

— Tony Grimes (@757EliteDB) January 5, 2024

Grimes is the second former five-star CB that Penn State has hosted this week. Thursday, we reported that AJ Harris, the former Georgia DB rated as the No. 2 CB prospect in the transfer portal, was also in State College. The Nittany Lions are now the favorite to land a commitment from Harris. 

An impending Harris commitment may be a cog in the recruitment of Tony Grimes. But given that Penn State is losing starters Kalen King, Johnny Dixon, and Daequan Hardy at the position, Franklin can afford to bulk up on portal talent. 

James Franklin could be gearing up for a transfer portal run

If you’re a former five-star recruit who was once interested in Penn State football, evidently, James Franklin has put out the notice that it’s time to come home. In addition to the Julian Fleming commitment and visits from AJ Harris and Tony Grimes, it’s also likely that the Nittany Lions will be interested in ex-Wisconsin OT Nolan Rucci. Rucci, the former No. 1 player in Pennsylvania for the 2021 cycle whose father played at Penn State in the 1990s, entered the transfer portal Thursday. 

Currently, Fleming and Tulsa K Chase Meyer are Penn State’s only two commitments via the transfer portal. However, the staff’s existing relationships with these top prospects make reuniting with any of them likely. If James Franklin can find a way to land all four of these former five-star prospects, then it would be one of the more impressive transfer portal hauls in the country. 

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