Shocking:The former Penn State wide receiver is back in the Big Ten and will not be playing for the….

Shocking:Former Penn State receiver is back in the Big Ten, not on Nittany Lions’ 2025 schedule

Following a terrible 2024 season finale, Penn State’s wide receiver room was emptied out. In their 27-24 Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal, the Nittany Lions’ wide receivers failed to catch a pass, forcing WR1 Harrison Wallace III and WR2 Omari Evans to go for the transfer portal.

Evans traveled across the nation to Washington following a much longer recruitment phase and a brief flirtation with Syracuse, while Wallace attracted a lot of big-time interest and ultimately signed with Ole Miss. For head coach Jedd Fisch, who is starting his second season in Seattle, he will have one more year of eligibility.

Evans had career highs in 2024 with 21 receptions for 415 yards and five touchdowns, but he was conspicuously absent from Penn State’s most important games, including the Orange Bowl and the regular-season matchup with Ohio State. However, he did grab a 21-yard touchdown pass against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game, which Penn State lost 45-37.

Evans will not be playing for Penn State in 2025, but he will remain in the conference. In 2024, the Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35–6 at Beaver Stadium, and Evans was once more left off the stat sheet after recording just one carry for one yard and no catches.

The second-year head coach was in a grave situation with the departure of Johntay Cook II, his program’s transfer portal prize of the summer, even though Evans did not appear in front of Fisch. After barely two days in Seattle, Cook, a former Texas Longhorn, and the program agreed to part ways. Cook is now probably going to have to wait until the transfer portal window opens in the spring to find his next program.

The addition of Devonte Ross from Troy to the transfer portal will help offset the loss of Evans, Penn State’s main deep threat. In 2024, Ross hauled in 76 catches for 1,043 yards and 11 scores. The 5-foot-11, 161-pound junior has 10 receptions for 398 yards and five of his 11 trips to the touchdown zone on throws over 20 yards downfield.