Penn State Football made more noise in the transfer portal on Thursday by adding Georgia transfer, cornerback A.J. Harris.
This is a big addition for the Nittany Lions for numerous reasons as Harris has the talent to be a plug-and-play corner for Penn State in 2024.
The former 5-star recruit was also one of the most coveted players in the country in the 2023 recruiting class.
The Alabama native ultimately chose Georgia, but decided to put his name in the transfer portal after just one season because of how crowded the Georgia secondary had become.
Georgia’s loss becomes Penn State’s gain, and here’s why.
3 Things to Know About New Penn State Football CB A.J. Harris
An instant impact
Did you see the Penn State Football secondary in the Peach Bowl? Uh, not great.
That’s the unit the Nittany Lions were going to go into 2024 with due to Daequan Hardy, Johnny Dixon and Kalen King all leaving for the NFL.
Now, Harris brings competition, and more talent, to the cornerback room for next season. His true freshman stats are not eye popping, 7 games and 8 tackles, but there’s a reason the 6-foot-1 Harris was rated as the No. 2 corner in the 2023 class, and the No. 2 corner in the portal.
The kid has the talent and traits to be really good.
This Spring and Summer will be vital for him as cornerbacks coach Terry Smith will coach him up in order to have him ready to go when the 2024 season kicks off in West Virginia.
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Relationships Matter
This is something that gets harped on regularly in recruiting, but it’s just so true that it needs to be repeated.
Coaches and schools being respectful and kind to recruits and their families even if they don’t choose your school is so important.
In this day and age of the transfer portal, the chances of a kid becoming available a couple years down the line is a lot more likely than it was just three years ago.
Penn State Football recruited Chop Robinson hard, he picked Maryland. Fast forward three years and he’s going to walk across the stage in the first round of the NFL Draft and it’ll read: Chop Robinson, Penn State.
And a more recent example is what just happened with Julian Fleming.
The No. 1 player in Pennsylvania at one point and Fleming spurns the in-state school. Instead of burning that bridge, James Franklin welcomed him back with open arms.
This is also true with Harris. The Nittany Lions recruited him hard during his original recruitment, but Georgia was hard to beat at the time considering all the winning they were doing.
Meanwhile, Harris hails from the same high school as former Penn State CB Christian Campbell, and one time Penn State commit T.J. Parker.
Despite this, the Penn State Football staff made sure their prior relationship could positively impact this new recruitment with Harris, and it did.
A sense of urgency
Could Penn State Football have theoretically gone into next season with the group it had at cornerback? Yes, probably.
That’s because the majority of that group is former 4-star recruits and all are young enough where there’s still room for improvement.
But, Franklin surely realizes that next year is a big year for
him and this program. The playoff goes to 12 teams, the four powerhouse PAC-12 schools join the Big Ten and it could be his last season with quarterback Drew Allar.
Franklin’s got to have a big year.
Being aggressive and bringing in a top talent like Harris shows Franklin does understand that “good enough” really isn’t good enough in today’s college football.
Look for Penn State Football to continue to add via the portal in the coming days.
MORE: Grading James Franklin’s First Decade at Penn State
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