Penn State revamped its wide receiver room in the transfer portal and added three new targets for Drew Allar entering the 2025 season.
Kyron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse) both come from Power 5 schools, but PSU’s third addition from a lower-profile program is in line to potentially be a large contributor.
Devonte Ross comes to Happy Valley as a senior receiver from Troy, coming off a 1,000-yard campaign.
Ross earned All-Sun Belt first-team honors and second-team accolades as a return specialist. He enrolled at Penn State for the spring semester and developed chemistry with Allar that he put on display during the 2025 Blue-White Game. Ross brings an athletic outside receiving option to Andy Kotelnicki’s offense, looking to take the final step and win a national championship.
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 170 pounds
Hometown: Cartersville, Georgia
2024: Ross had a breakout game against Florida A&M, setting a Troy receiving record with 229 yards. He caught three touchdowns in the matchup, including a 98-yard score to capture the longest play in Trojans history. He finished the year with 76 catches for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.
Ross returned a punt for a touchdown against Iowa, becoming the first player since Christian McCaffrey in 2016 to score a punt return touchdown facing the Hawkeyes. He scored three touchdowns against Iowa in his first big opportunity against a Big Ten team. Ross took a huge step forward in 2024 after making steady improvements during his freshman and sophomore years.
2023: In 14 games, Ross caught 40 passes for 428 yards during his sophomore season. He didn’t catch a touchdown as a freshman, but grabbed three the following year. Ross averaged three catches per game and 30.6 yards per game on 60 total targets. He returned 11 kickoffs for 231 yards and caught multiple balls in 11 games two years ago.
2022: Ross played 13 games and caught 13 passes as a freshman. He caught four balls for 91 yards against Texas State and ended the season with 147 yards. Ross started his Trojan career catching a pass in nine of his first 10 games.
Before College: Before his three seasons at Troy, Ross caught 126 passes for 2,532 yards at Cartersville High School in Georgia. He averaged 20.4 yards per catch and grabbed 10 touchdowns as a senior. Ross was a 5A All-State player who also played cornerback. He was rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports, ESPN, and Rivals before arriving at Troy.
A Quote from Ross: “It’s been surreal, being here at an institution like this,” Ross told Lyle Alenstein of The Daily Collegian and other media members in April. “First couple months at a new place, getting used to the environment. The weather is way different — where I’m from in Georgia. Just growing with the strength staff and nutritionists that we have, all the resources that we have here.”
A Quote about Ross: “I will tell you one of the things that really jumped out at us is I have a ton of respect for the University of Iowa’s football program and what Coach [Kirk] Ferentz has been able to do there, specifically on defense and special teams. And that young man, I think Troy was beating Iowa at the half at Iowa, which we know that’s a tough place to play. In that game, I think he had two touchdowns on offense and one as a punt return on special teams. So for him to do it against that type of opponent on this stage gave you a lot of confidence that, that could translate to us,” – Head coach James Franklin said after March 25 spring practice.
