If Justin Shorter is to fulfill his impressive recruiting pedigree, he’ll do it somewhere other than Happy Valley. Probably.
Tuesday afternoon, multiple media outlets reported that Shorter has decided to place his name into the NCAA transfer database. A short time later, head coach James Franklin indicated that he had held conversations with the wide receiver, but remains unsure of his status with the football program moving forward.
“Literally we’re just having a conversation and walking out when I came here,” the head coach said. “I’m not sure where we’re at. Obviously, it was a conversation that was had. It was a conversation that was had.”
Source: Penn State WR Justin Shorter is in the NCAA transfer portal.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 26, 2019
As we’ve stated myriad times in the past, a player can remove his name from the portal and remain at the same school.
A five-star member of the Nittany Lions’ 2018 recruiting class, Shorter was rated as the No. 1 receiver in the country; the No. 1 player at any position in the state of New Jersey; and the No. 8 recruit overall on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. Only defensive end Micah Parsons was rated higher than Shorter in Franklin’s class that year.
Limited to four games as a true freshman in large part because of injuries, Shorter caught three passes for 20 yards in 2018. Through 11 games this season, Shorter had caught 12 passes for 137 yards.
