STATE COLLEGE – Once Amare Campbell placed his name in the transfer portal in April, it didn’t take long for linebackers coach Dan Connor to know that he wanted him at Penn State.

Connor had recruited Campbell when he was a high school player in Manassas, Va., and liked him then. He liked him even more after watching videotape from Campbell’s first two seasons at North Carolina.

“I saw a guy who was slippery,” Connor said Thursday, “who was hard to block, who could create plays and not just play within a scheme. There was a sideline-to-sideline element to his game. He’s a jack of all trades. He can cover. He can blitz.

“When you have that plus validation from guys who he grew up with, it checks every box.”

The 6-0, 230-pound Campbell transferred to Penn State in May after Ta’Mere Robin

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