Penn State football has successfully kept a key piece of its future out of the transfer portal.
The day the transfer portal opened, true freshman defensive end Yvan Kemajou announced that he was staying at Penn State.
Kemajou is an important guy to retain.
The 6-foot-3, 252-pounder burned his redshirt in 2025.
In 11 games, Kemajou posted 13 tackles, five tackles for loss, a pass breakup and 1.5 sacks.
With 238 snaps per Pro Football Focus, Kemajou played the third most out of Penn State’s defensive ends, and the two that played more than him, Dani Dennis-Sutton (eligibility) and Zuriah Fisher (transfer portal) won’t be playing for Penn State next season.
Kemajou announced his return to Penn State with a graphic that said “I am returning to PSU in 2026.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Enough said.
“Yvan is having an amazing freshman year,” interim head coach Terry Smith told reporters at a Monday press conference. “This kid is going to be a major part of Penn State’s future. He continues to play more. Love his development, love his work ethic, love his tenacity.”
Kemajou also impressed his teammates.
“Yvan is a talented young man,” Zane Durant said via Lions247. “He comes in to work with his mindset, and I think he means a lot to us right now. Because he’s young and also he’s a hard worker who keeps pushing the older guys to get better. So he’s a key piece of this defense right now. I think he’s gonna have a bright future, too.”
Kemajou’s return is the second piece of good news Penn State fans have gotten regarding defensive ends in the past 24 hours. Max Granville— who missed all of last season with an injury— also announced that he’ll be back.
