Penn State has landed another defensive back out of the transfer portal. Former Syracuse cornerback Ibn McDaniels has committed to the Nittany Lions following a trip to State College.

Temple was involved with McDaniels and hosted him for a visit, but the New Jersey product popped up at Penn State for a visit on Thursday. Head coach Matt Campbell, cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, director of player personnel Alan Zemaitis and the rest of the staff were able to seal the deal with McDaniels while he was on campus. Kentucky and UConn were also in the mix.

McDaniels saw action in 11 games as a redshirt freshman at Syracuse in 2025, logging defensive snaps and 19 special teams snaps according to Pro Football Focus. McDaniels lined up primarily as a slot cornerback for Syracuse this past fall and finished the year with two tackles.

McDaniels appeared in four games as a true freshman in 2024 and finished the year with two tackles while being listed as a safety on Syracuse’s depth chart. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound McDaniels offers positional versatility in the secondary.

Penn State hosted McDaniels for an Elite Showcase prospect camp during his prep career at Elizabeth High School in New Jersey, but the Nittany Lions never pulled the trigger on an offer. Syracuse signed McDaniels, who has a basketball background, as the No. 121 cornerback in the 2024 class according to 247Sports. He totaled 34 tackles, three interceptions and a fumble recovery to go along with 44 catches for 744 yards and eight touchdowns on offense as a senior at Elizabeth following a junior campaign in which he missed the majority of the year due to a collarbone injury.

McDaniels is the latest transfer portal defensive back to commit to Penn State. The Nittany Lions welcomed former Iowa State safeties Marcus Neal Jr., Jamison Patton and Hunter Sowell on board amid a flurry of commitments over the weekend. Penn State is targeting additional defensive backs in the transfer portal, which officially opened for business Jan. 2.

Penn State’s transfer portal haul now consists of 28 players under first-year head coach Matt Campbell and his staff.

Keep up with all of Penn State’s comings and goings in the transfer portal here.