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Penn State Defensive Lineman Intends to Transfer

T.A. Cunningham, a member of the 2024 recruiting class, plans to transfer from Penn State.

Mark Wogenrich

A general view inside Penn State's Beaver Stadium prior to a Big Ten college football game.
A general view inside Penn State's Beaver Stadium prior to a Big Ten college football game. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
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A Penn State freshman defensive lineman plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, which opened Monday officially for college football underclassmen. T.A. Cunningham, who signed with the NIttany Lions' 2024 recruiting class, told On3's Hayes Fawcett that he will enter the portal. Cunningham did not play for the Nittany Lions this season and retains four years of eligibility.

Cunningham had injury issues during his first season at Penn State and was listed on multiple Big Ten availability reports as being out. His name no longer appears on Penn State's online roster.

The 6-5, 280-pound defensive tackle was a highly recruited 4-star prospect in the 2024 class who chose Penn State over Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami and Texas A&M. An Atlanta native, Cunningham played at several schools during his high school career, which included an eligiblity dispute in California.

Cunningham transferred in 2022 from Cobbs Creek High in Georgia to Los Alamitos High in California, where he initially could not play. The California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section did not approve Cunningham's eligibility until five weeks into the season. A lawsuit filed on Cunningham's behalf by a marketing agency sought to overturn the federation's decision. According to ESPN, a judge initially denied the injunction. Cunningham later was cleared to play.

"I think T.A. is a guy that go the on the national recruiting scene very early for a reason," Penn State coach James Franklin said on Signing Day in December 2023. "There was a lot of traits that he
showed that were obvious to everybody. And then obviously when you talk about whether it's moving high schools, or whether it's limited film based on injuries, for us, we just want to make sure that we understand the reasons behind all those things, and the thing that's great about T.A. and his family is they have been totally transparent about all those things, and I think you guys know, we are thorough and detailed with everything that we do.

"So here is a guy that had some challenges and some adverse that he had to overcome and the family had to overcome, and then some physical injuries and setbacks and things like that.
But the reality is, at the end of the day, that body type, those traits, those skills are still there, and we think he's a highly motivated young man. We just feel like he's one of those guys that gets into our
structure and our system, he's going to flourish again and be one of those guys that everybody is talking about a couple years from now in terms of a guy that Penn State got a steal on because we trust in our evaluation process, and really did a lot of digging to make sure we understood all the details and were comfortable with the details."

Cunningham is the second Penn State player to enter the portal, following tight end Jerry Cross, whose agent announced his decision the week before the Big Ten Championship Game.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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