Wolfpack Secures Commitment from Big 10 Defensive Back
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RALEIGH — After already securing two offensive commits out of the transfer portal for the 2026 season, NC State turned its gaze to the defensive side of the roster. The Wolfpack lost several key players on the defense and needed to add some depth.
Defensive coordinator DJ Eliot and his staff acquired some Power Conference talent, as Penn State safety King Mack committed to NC State, according to a report from On3. The speedy defensive back made his decision Thursday after visiting the campus in Raleigh earlier in the week, helping the Wolfpack get a start on reloading the defense and helping support the young group of safeties.
More on Mack’s arrival in Raleigh
Mack played fairly extensively in Penn State’s lost 2025 season, starting in eight games and appearing in 13. Despite entering the year expected to compete for a College Football Playoff bid and a National Championship, the Nittany Lions were a disaster, resulting in the firing of head coach James Franklin. This led to speculation of a mass exodus by players already in the building. Mack was one of the many to hit the portal.
The former four-star recruit racked up 58 tackles, three pass deflections, an interception and a sack in his junior season. Mack would become the latest in a growing list of players on the Wolfpack from the Miami area, joining CJ Bailey, Teddy Hoffmann and others from South Florida. The safety walked an unorthodox path in his first three seasons, beginning with Penn State before transferring to Alabama for his sophomore year.
He ended up returning to State College for his junior season and earned a starting role as the year moved forward. NC State needed some veteran leadership and talent at the back of the defense, as many of the older safeties exhausted their eligibility in 2025, despite suffering injuries. He will join a group that includes breakout players like true freshman Tristan Teasdell and redshirt freshman Asaad Brown Jr. The latter could move back to nickel now, but showed such promise at the safety position.
The other tandem of redshirt freshman safeties, Brody Barnhardt and Ronnie Royal III, also stand to return, giving Wolfpack safeties coach Charlton Warren some more flexibility at that spot for the 2026 season. Most of Mack’s reps in 2025 came in the free safety spot or in the box, with 304 snaps coming in the former and 151 coming in the latter. No matter where he plays, adding a player with a Big 10 pedigree is a major win for NC State.
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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