Report: Former Iowa State Safety Marcus Neal Jr. Transfers To Penn State Football
Former Iowa State player and four-star safety Marcus Neal Jr. has committed to transfer to Penn State football, Hayes Fawcett reports for On3. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Neal played two years under Matt Campbell at Iowa State before making his way to Happy Valley. The Kansas City, Missouri, native played in all 25 games while he was there.
In 2025, Neal recorded 77 tackles, 40 of which were solo, two interceptions, one sack, and one forced fumble. He received All-Big 12 honors for the season. The year prior, in his true-freshman season, Neal had 18 tackles, one forced fumble, and one sack.
The junior comes in as the No. 5 safety in the transfer portal, per 247Sports transfer rankings, and the No. 83 player overall. He was listed as a three-star out of high school, per the same recruiting site.
The Penn State safety room took a huge hit already this offseason with the loss of Zakee Wheatley to the NFL draft and Antione Belgrave-Shorter and King Mack to the transfer portal. Neal steps in as an instant impact player.
Neal joins Benjamin Brahmer and Will Tompkins as the first three players to join Campbell’s Nittany Lions from the transfer portal, all hopping the Iowa State ship to follow their head coach. Penn State currently holds the No. 2 transfer portal class in 2026, behind only Oklahoma State.
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