Trey Potts could have gone almost anywhere to continue his college football career.
The draw to come home, even if the running back room at Penn State was already filled with young playmakers, was too much for the Pennsylvania native to ignore.
When the Williamsport High grad jumped into the transfer portal over the winter, one of the first calls he received was from Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. Potts,
who had more than 1,200 yards rushing over four seasons at Minnesota,
But the lure enrolling where his mother and grandfather graduated was just what he wanted.
“I grew up at White Out games,” Potts said, taking a quick glance around Beaver Stadium during media day on Sunday.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life. I get chills thinking about coming out here and playing in front of family and my state.”
Potts was a standout at Williamsport — an hour from Beaver Stadium — rushing for 3,490 yards and 59 touchdowns in his career.
He tore both of his ACLs in high school, limiting play in his final two seasons.
The three-star recruit — ranked as the 13th-best all-purpose back nationally as a senior —
landed at Minnesota during the same recruiting class that Penn State picked up four-star signees Devyn Ford and Noah Cain.
While Ford and Cain are gone — Ford is at Notre Dame, Cain at LSU — Potts, who has two years of eligibility left,
is now the newcomer/veteran in a room that features Singleton, a freshman All-American, and Allen, who scored 10 TDs a year ago.
“What I think it shows is that he is confident in himself,” Seider said of Potts joining a program with established running backs.
“He is a great teammate, and he understands you can come to a place where it’s going to be an uphill climb.
He’s proud of being a PA guy and part of a room that’s really talented. He’s trying to find his role and fit in.
landed at Minnesota during the same recruiting class that Penn State picked up four-star signees Devyn Ford and Noah Cain.