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THORNTON VISITING MIAMI
After visiting Auburn last weekend, Oregon transfer wide receiver Donte’ Thornton is making his way to Miami for an official visit with his old head coach Mario Cristobal this weekend.
VIP SCOOP: Miami is expected to host former Oregon WR Dont'e Thornton on an official visit this weekend.
— Gaby Urrutia (@GabyUrrutia247) December 14, 2022
The 6-foot-5, 197-pounder signed with Mario Cristobal and the Ducks as a Top 100 recruit back in the Class of 2021.https://t.co/esYLSPIqLL pic.twitter.com/ExYPdy102L
From Penn State’s perspective, this isn’t all that of a good thing considering this is the last weekend for transfers to visit schools before the dead period starts on Monday and last through the new year. Ideally, he’d be taking in a snow-filled Happy Valley instead of warm and sunny Coral Gables.
While it’s possible that Thornton takes his recruitment into 2023 and is able to visit Penn State when the dead period is lifted during the first week of January, it’s not a good sign that he’s headed elsewhere this weekend. Especially since that elsewhere is NIL Miami.
PRATHER VISITING MARYLAND
On a similar note, former West Virginia wide receiver Kaden Prather won’t be going to Penn State this weekend either. Instead, he’ll head to Maryland.
Days before early NSD, Maryland will welcome a mix of high school and portal targets to campus beginning Friday. Led by WVU WR Kaden Prather & Miami SAF Avantae Williams, breaking down where the #Terps stand heading into the weekendhttps://t.co/IcGdF58Gft
— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) December 16, 2022
Like we mentioned with Thornton, it’s certainly not ideal that Prather is visiting elsewhere. Perhaps he’ll take it into January and be able to visit Penn State then, but I think it’s pretty telling that Prather — who is originally from Maryland — is using his first (and maybe only) official visit to UMD.
HOLMES SCHEDULES PENN STATE OFFICIAL
Recently offered Wake Forest cornerback Gavin Holmes is set to visit Texas this weekend, but that hasn’t stopped him from scheduling an official visit to Penn State.
Penn St. OV Jan 7-8 #WeAre
— Gavin Holmes (@GAVINH0LMES) December 15, 2022
As we mentioned with Holmes earlier this week, he’s been a rotation cornerback for the Demon Deacons the last two seasons, but earned seven starts this past season. At Penn State, he’d likely have a similar role as a rotation DB who might occasionally get spot starts behind Kalen King and Johnny Dixon.
NEW TARGETS
Devin Carter, 6-foot-3, 215 pounds (Senior — NC State)
Stats: 25 receptions, 406 yards, 16.2 YPC, 2 TDs (8 games)
Hometown: Clayton, NC
Just like we’ve seen with each and every Probing the Portal, Penn State is still offering receivers. This time, former NC State wideout Devin Carter is the recipient.
Penn State offered! #AGTG
— DC (@__d1c) December 15, 2022
Carter has played a lot of football for NC State, as he’s been a starter since the 2019 season. Over that time, his stats have largely stayed the same: 32 receptions (2019), 29 receptions (2020), 31 receptions (2021), and 25 receptions (2022). That’s for a few reasons:
- In 2021 (10 games) and 2022 (8 games), he dealt with injuries that prevented him from playing in all 13 games.
- NC State has played musical chairs at QB throughout the last four seasons. 2021 was the lone year that Devin Leary started every game.
- Carter’s main role as a deep threat doesn’t usually lend to a whole bunch of targets.
With Penn State, Carter would be asked to do the same: stretch the field. Give Drew Allar an outlet deep. As we’ve talked about, it was a piece of the offense that was sorely missing this past season so it’s no surprise that they are trying to address it via the portal.
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