UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- One guy, Dante Cephas, came with all the hype, hoopla and fanfare.
There wasn't much of that for the other guy, Malik McClain.
Both were transfer portal pickups for Penn State during the offseason, and Cephas was the one heralded as the potential star when he committed Jan. 15. When McClain announced his transfer decision three days later, he was largely viewed merely as someone who could provide some depth.
There was reason, if you looked closer, to believe even then that all of that was backwards.
And so far -- yes, it's only one game, so all of this could change -- but the most important wide receiver landed from the transfer portal appears to be the other guy.
McClain, an impressive 6-foot-4, 200-pounder with a big body and good hands, debuted against West Virginia with four catches for 58 yards, including a 25-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
Cephas, who's 6-0, 187, caught one pass for 22 yards, but he also dropped a short pass inside the 5-yard line that probably would have been a touchdown.
There simply hasn't been much talk about Cephas in the program so far, to the point where it seemed strange, given how highly touted he was, that he couldn't crack the top two at receiver entering the opener.
On the other hand, James Franklin spent a good bit of time during both of his press conferences this week heaping praise on McClain. Here's what the coach had to say Wednesday after practice.
"He’s been a really nice addition physically, he’s been a really nice addition culturally," Franklin noted. "He got here a few days late after the semester started. It was like a scramble. He did extremely well academically, continues to do well academically. He’s always got a huge smile on his face. He’s helping on special teams, he’s helping on offense.
"We recruited him out of high school, so it was already that relationship."
Let's stop right there for a second, before we get back to Franklin praising McClain.
Let's look back on McClain as a high school recruit.
Coming out of prestigious IMG Academy in Florida, the 4-star prospect McClain was rated the No. 42 wide receiver in the country for the class of 2021 by 247Sports. He was very highly thought of, with offers not only from Penn State, but also Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Miami.
McClain wound up going to Florida State, where he played the past two seasons. His stats were relatively pedestrian -- 16 catches for 190 yards and two scores in 2021, then 17 catches for 206 yards and three TDs in 2022.
By comparison, Cephas was a 2-star prospect coming out of Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, and was rated the No. 333 wide receiver in the country for the class of 2019. He had an offer from Wisconsin, but his only other offers were Kent State, Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky, Howard and Toledo.
Cephas wound up going to Kent State and eventually put up good numbers, maximizing his opportunity and showing that he was under-recruited. He had only 15 catches total over his first two seasons, then erupted for 82 catches, 1,240 yards and nine TDs in 2021. Wow, that was an impressive jump, as he really kind of came out of nowhere with Kent State.
Last season, Cephas dipped to 48 catches for 744 yards and three TDs. He only played nine games, after appearing in 14 the year before.
Now look, mistakes are made in recruiting all the time. And some lower-recruited guys end up doing better than the so-called studs. Happens a lot, actually.
But in this case, comparing Cephas and McClain, clearly one of them was much more highly thought of coming out of high school, and yet that guy was seen more of as kind of an afterthought when he decided to transfer from Florida State to Penn State.
None of this is meant to knock Cephas, not at all. It's meant to point out that everybody seems to have missed the boat on McClain and just how big of a pickup he was for the Lions.
McClain benefited greatly from arriving at Penn State for the spring semester, while Cephas had to stay at Kent State to finish his academic, then arrived in Happy Valley in May. McClain had a big head start in every facet, from learning the offense and getting to know teammates, to figuring things out academically and fitting into the team culture.
"It's a different culture from Florida State," McClain said after practice Wednesday. "So, it's just learning that culture and knowing how to move through it."
He then was asked to describe the culture at Penn State.
"Very blue collar, just work, work, work," he said. "Don't pick your head up until you're holding a trophy somewhere."
By all accounts, McClain has indeed done all the blue-collar work necessary to fit in and make a name for himself in the program.
"He’s been awesome," Franklin said. "He’s one of the more popular guys on the team. Everybody likes him. He’s just been a really good fit for our program, and we’re glad we got him."
McClain said he had Penn State in his top three during the recruiting process and that he had a great relationship with Franklin at the time. He chose Florida State, he added, because it was during COVID and, as an Alabama native, he wanted to stay closer to home.
A big question here, obviously, when comparing McClain to Cephas is where they had been playing in college and the level of competition they were facing. Cephas was in the MAC at Kent State, while McClain was going up against better players every day in practice and certainly every Saturday in games at Florida State.
McClain's numbers might have been relatively pedestrian his first two years with the Seminoles, but he still performed significantly better than Cephas did at Kent State. McClain had 33 catches for 396 yards and five TDs those first two years, while Cephas had 15 catches for 155 yards and no scores his first two years.
McClain said he feels like he's already changed "greatly" during his time at Penn State.
"I've had a lot of mindset changes for myself," he said, "creating new habits, work ethic, and I feel like I've been doing a good job."
Indeed he has. But again, it's only been one game, and it'll be interesting to watch all season long how the McClain and Cephas comparison plays out.
