Penn State football lands Temple transfer DE Arnold Ebiketie for 2021 season
Penn State football has landed a commitment from Temple transfer defensive end Arnold Ebiketie, who made the announcement via Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Silver Spring, Maryland, native played three seasons for the Owls after redshirting in 2017, totaling 58 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one fumble recovery touchdown. He is a former three-star recruit and was ranked the No. 2051 overall player in the Class of 2017, according to 247Sports.
Ebiketie played in six of Temple’s seven games this season, while seeing action in seven of 12 games last season. In 2020, he tallied 42 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one fumble recovery touchdown en route to being an All-AAC second-team selection.
The NCAA passed a proposal earlier this month — due to the uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic — that will allow transfer athletes from all Division I sports to be immediately eligible at their new institutions instead of having to sit out one season. So, Ebiketie should be able to play for the Nittany Lions next season.
Ebiketie’s commitment marks the fourth transfer to commit to Penn State in the past 10 days. The Nittany Lions added Baylor transfer running back John Lovett, South Carolina transfer cornerback John Dixon, Duke transfer defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo and Ebiketie to the roster this month.
The addition of Ebiketie helps make up for Penn State’s losses at defensive end this offseason. Redshirt senior defensive end Shane Simmons — a reserve — announced earlier this month that he’d forgo an additional year with the program, and redshirt sophomore defensive end Jayson Oweh and redshirt senior defensive end Shaka Toney both declared for the 2021 NFL Draft in the past week.
