Penn State Safety King Mack Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Mack was the highest-rated defensive player in Penn State's 2023 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Penn State safety King Mack makes a tackle against Delaware during a Nittany Lions game in 2023 at Beaver Stadium. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

King Mack, a safety from Florida and one of the highest-rated players in Penn State's 2023 recruiting class, has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Rivals first reported the news Thursday, as players across college football finalized their decisions with the April transfer window closing.

Mack was the highest-rated defensive player in Penn State's 2023 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He was a 4-star prospect, a top-100 player nationally and the No. 3 safety nationally in the recruiting class. Mack, from the national power St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, chose Penn State from a list of more than 20 offers that included Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami and Pitt. He committed to Penn State with with high school teammate Conrad Hussey, who eventually enrolled at Florida State.

Mack played in six games for the Nittany Lions last season, primarily on special teams. He played a season-high 21 snaps against UMass and 18 each against Delaware and Illinois. Mack burned his redshirt by playing in nine total snaps in Penn State's final two games against Michigan State and Ole Miss.

"When you talk about King specifically, he was a guy we identified early on in training camp based on his testing numbers, his strength numbers, based on his ability to pick up the defense, on his ability to make plays that we felt like he was going to factor in from a depth-chart perspective on defense," Franklin said of Mack in September 2023. "... He's fast, aggressive and violent. The ball likes him."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.