King Mack missed Penn State’s rabid football fans, the electric atmosphere at Beaver Stadium and the coaching guidance of James Franklin and Anthony Poindexter.

Above all, he missed his friends in the Nittany Lions’ 2023 recruiting class, which is ultimately why he decided to return to Happy Valley after one season at Alabama.

“We created a bond, a brotherhood, in that class,” Mack said. “We’re so tight. We’ve all been through the blood, sweat and tears together. Leaving those guys, going somewhere else and starting over was hard.

“I didn’t have that same bond with those guys (at Alabama) that I had with my guys here.”

Mack was a four-star recruit from South Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas and played in every game as a freshman for the Lions in 2023. He transferred to Alabama, wh

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