STATE COLLEGE – Trebor Pena has been at Penn State for three weeks, and the first impressions from his new football coaches are very positive.
“He’s just come in and worked,” wide receivers coach Marques Hagans said Thursday. “He’s starting to earn the respect of his peers by how he works, how he approaches things and how he prepares. He’s really been a good addition to the room and a great example, too.”
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Pena announced he was transferring from Syracuse to Penn State on the day of the Blue-White Game in late April. He was widely considered the top receiver available in the spring portal.
Pena caught 84 passes for 941 yards and nine touchdowns last season at Syracuse and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference second team.
He became the third wide receiver to transfer to Penn State since December, following Kyron Hudson from USC and Devonte Ross from Troy. The Nittany Lions hope they can boost a position of need after those three combined for 23 TD catches last season.
They could be the best set of receivers that quarterback Drew Allar has had since he became a starter in 2023.
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“They’re very like-minded,” quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien said. “Kyron, Devonte and Trebor are football guys. They love being in the building. They’re good dudes. They’re very competitive.
“They’re the same guy every day. That’s how Drew is.”
Penn State coach James Franklin said Pena’s production, experience and leadership drew his attention.
“Production matters,” Franklin said. “He’s also a sixth-year guy. I look at college football a little but like college basketball was a few years back where a winning formula includes being a mature team. There’s a lot of value that comes from that.
“Then we got a chance to get to know him, his mom – who is awesome – and his girlfriend. They seem like great fits here. He’s also from the footprint (New York City), which helps.”
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After Pena put his name in the portal in April, Syracuse coach Fran Brown said he was leaving because his request for more NIL money was turned down.
“We paid him enough,” Brown said then. “He was going to get paid more. There were some numbers that were asked to me that I didn’t feel I would be able to do and moved on.
“I treated him right, did everything that was needed and I just said, ‘Yo, you got to go.’ ”
Brown implied that Pena asked for $2 million to play his final college season, but Franklin disputed that Thursday.
“None of the stuff that was put out publicly was true about how his transfer took place and why it took place,” Franklin said. “None of that was true as it relates to Penn State based on our experience. They were non-factors.
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“It just worked out really well. Since he got here, I know our veteran players like him.”
O’Brien and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki like that Syracuse used Pena in several places on offense, giving him versatility.
“He has an elite change of direction,” Kotelnicki said when asked what he has seen from Pena on Syracuse tape. “He has really good ball skills. He does really good things with the ball afterwards.
“We like to be diverse with our skill players. I really appreciate how he had some of that already. He’s used to lining up in different spots and doing a couple different things. That transition will be a little easier for him.”
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The presence of Hudson and Ross during spring practice raised the level of competition among the wide receivers, according to Hagans. Pena’s presence can only add to that.
“They didn’t say a lot,” Hagans said about Hudson and Ross. “They just worked. They earned the respect of their teammates and coaches. They did it the right way. That was invaluable.
“I think the competition has been really good. I tell those guys the opportunity to play here is a blessing. We’re going to find the best guys in the country and bring them in. Some guys will embrace that and some guys won’t.”
