College football transfer RB Trey Potts commits to Big Ten rival Penn State

Penn State earned a notable commitment out of the college football transfer portal as running back Trey Potts announced his pledge to the Nittany Lions for 2023.

Potts spent his entire four-year NCAA career at Minnesota but the Williamsport, Pa. native wanted a change of scenery for his fifth season and is returning home.

More: 2023 Penn State Football Schedule

Last season, Potts rushed for 471 yards and three touchdowns, a year after he appeared to be on the cusp of something great, in the 2021 season running for 552 yards and scoring six times in five games before an injury intervened.

In all, Potts finished his Minnesota career with 1,195 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 219 attempts, posting a career average of 5.0 yards per carry.

Coming Home , We Are !!! pic.twitter.com/MHGtHcKOgo
— Trey Potts (@PottsTreyson) April 6, 2023

Where he fits at Penn State

Earning the commitment of a transfer running back seems like a surprise for the Nittany Lions, who aren't exactly lacking for options at the position this season.

Penn State is expected to come into the 2023 campaign as one of the best rushing teams in college football with two stars returning in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, both of whom should be the engine behind the team's offense this fall.

Related: 2023 College Football Transfer Portal Tracker

The presence of both backs could cut into the reps Potts wants to get, but the addition of a productive third-down option in the backfield is always a net gain and has been a priority for Penn State this offseason.

Adding a skill player with experience in the Big Ten is also an important gain for the positional group as the team looks to focus on running the ball early on as it breaks in new starting quarterback Drew Allar.

What his role looks like

Even with Singleton and Allen the obvious primary options at running back, Penn State still runs something like a backfield by committee.

That places a premium on having as many healthy options available as possible, and right now Potts projects as the clear third option.

Plus, he can potentially add important value on special teams. Both of the primary backs worked as specialists last season and the team wants to employ its greatest speed options on kick and punt returns in the field position battle.

That could be the most prominent role Potts plays on the team early on as he earns the right to get regular reps alongside PSU's featured rushers.

College football transfer portal

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.

A player can enter their name into the transfer portal through their school's compliance office. Once a player gives written notification of their intent to transfer, the office puts the player's name into the database, and they officially become a transfer.

The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player's request and NCAA rules forbid anyone from refusing that request.

The database includes the player's name, contact information, info on whether the player was on scholarship, and if he is a graduate student.

Once a player's name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player, who can change his mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.

Notably, once a player enters the portal, his school no longer has to honor the athletic scholarship it gave him. And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school doesn't have to give him another scholarship.

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