On the eve of Penn State’s first-round College Football Playoff matchup with SMU at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions landed a former Pennsylvania four-star recruit in the transfer portal. After three underwhelming seasons at Texas A&M Enai White has committed to Penn State with two years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-5 245-pound edge rusher from Philadelphia spent most of the 2024 season recovering from a torn ACL and appeared in just two games, playing only nine snaps. While at Imhotep Insitute as a highly-recruited high schooler, White trained with current Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes.
Last season, three of James Franklin’s six transfer portal additions were Pennsylvania natives returning home, Nolan Rucci and Jordan Mayer from Wisconsin and Julian Fleming from Ohio State. Both Rucci and Fleming were the No. 1 overall recruit from PA in their high school classes. Rucci is now starting at right tackle for the Nittany Lions in the CFP after losing the starting job to Anthony Donkoh out of fall camp. Donkoh is out for the season after suffering an injury in Week 13 against Minnesota. Fleming began the year as a starter at wide receiver but enters the playoff with just 14 catches.
White played a career-high 90 snaps in his freshman season and recorded one sack in 2022 and 2023. He was a member of Texas A&M’s legendary 2022 high school recruiting class that was No. 1 in the country and featured eight five stars. That class has fallen apart over the past seasons with the disappointing end to Jimbo Fisher’s tenure in College Station.
Franklin’s first transfer portal addition, Kyron Hudson from USC, is a California native, but White’s commitment reinforces Penn State's clear homecoming philosophy in the portal. White should expect to make an impact right away because he’s filling a position of need for the Nittany Lions. White will likely be tasked with replacing Abdul Carter at defensive end, which won’t be easy. Franklin is banking on Barnes maximizing White’s ability, now a year removed from his knee injury.