Mega Barnwell to Penn State, then de-committed, then re-committed and then signed.
Now, it looks like he’s going in a different direction.
Nittany Sports Now has confirmed that Barnwell, a freshman tight end from Riverbend High School in Frederickburg, Virginia, is no longer on the roster.
Nittany Sports Now can confirm that freshman tight end Mega Barnwell is no longer on the roster. Story coming soon.
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) June 5, 2023
His roster page is gone from Penn State’s website and it appears he’s erased all evidence of PSU from his Twitter profile. It’s not yet clear the reasoning behind Barnwell’s sudden departure, nor is it clear if he plans on entering the transfer portal.
He first committed to Penn State in June 2020 before his sophomore year.
In January 2021, he de-committed and then re-committed in late September during his junior season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.On early signing day this past December, Barnwell officially became a Nittany Lion.
Barnwell was listed as an athlete and Penn State fans were unsure where he was going to play until signing day, when coach James Franklin announced that the team planned to have Barnwell as a tight end at the start.
Franklin noted in his post-signing day presser that Barnwell was capable of playing multiple positions.
“He does have position flexibility,” Franklin said. “He’s the tallest guy in this class. We do think he can play defensive end. We do think he can play defensive tackle. We think he can play tight end for sure, and then I think there’s also a chance that he can play on the offensive line. Now, most high school kids don’t want to hear that they’re being projected to move to offensive line until you show them how many first-round draft choices on the offensive line started at tight end. That’s usually a pretty good story to tell. But at the end of the day, we want guys to play the position they want to play. A lot of times, guys will kind of see that on their own that they need to move. But, to be honest with you, we just wanted him in our program. He’s a really good athlete, great family, really good student with position flexibility. He may be a tight end here for four-to-five years or a number of other positions, and we’ll just see how the genetics play out.”
Nittany Sports Now will have more information on Barnwell’s departure once it becomes available.
