The Penn State Nittany Lions have picked up their second quality transfer player for the 2021 season as South Carolina Gamecock’s cornerback Johnny Dixon has announced he’ll be moving to Happy Valley for his sophomore campaign to play under head coach James Franklin.

Dixon saw action in 10 games this year for the Gamecocks, starting eight at cornerback, and broke up five passes while recovering a fumble. As a true freshman he saw limited playing time but did intercept a pass. Dixon is transferring out of South Carolina in the aftermath of head coach Will Muschamp being fired in the latter stages of the 2020 season. 

Dixon is a six-foot, 185-pound defensive back and a former three-star prospect out of Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida. He was a high-school target of the Nittany Lions before choosing to matriculate to Columbia, South Carolina over State College. 

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Penn State previously announced that Baylor running back, and former New Jersey prized high-school recruit, John Lovett also would be moving north to Pennsylvania to play for the Nittany Lions. Lovett will be considered a graduate transfer student and immediately eligible to play next year. 

Head coach James Franklin had announced near the end of the season that Penn State was hunting depth at several positions, including defensive line and the defensive backfield. 

“When you talk about transfers, we’re going to be looking at defensive ends, we’re going to be looking at defensive backs from a transfer perspective, or in the second recruiting cycle,” James Franklin said on National Signing Day earlier this month. “Those are areas that we’re going to be focused on. So any high school coaches or prospects that may be listening to this, those positions, as well as maybe some others, are going to be very, very important for us moving forward.

The Nittany Lions opened the 2020 season at 0-5, the worst ever start in the nearly 130 year history of the program, only to win their final five games to end up at 5-5. Penn State likely will be one of the hungriest programs in America heading into 2020.