Q&A: Get to know wide receiver Winston Eubanks
James Franklin and the Nittany Lion coaching staff added a graduate transfer last week when former Shippenburg wide receiver Winston Eubanks announced that he'll enroll at Penn State beginning in January.
A two-time team captain for the Red Raiders, Eubanks put up some impressive numbers at the Division II level, totaling 148 receptions for 2,853 yards and 28 touchdowns against schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). However, once the season was cancelled this past summer, he thought it may be best to use his final year of eligibility elsewhere, so he entered the transfer portal in July. Multiple Division I programs, including Pitt, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Rice and Louisiana-Monroe all showed interested, but in the end, he chose the Nittany Lions.
We caught up with Eubanks Tuesday night to get a better feel for both the person and the player, as well as what he hopes to get out of his time in State College.
Ryan Snyder: What's the main reason you're transferring to Penn State? Is this mainly just because the PSAC wasn't playing this season? Is this because you have NFL aspirations? Maybe a combination of the two?
Winston Eubanks: Yeah, I definitely would say it's a combination of the two. I'm the kind of person that, when I say I commit somewhere, I definitely mean it. I did commit to Shippensburg when I was coming out of high school, and I intended on finishing my career here. I had a great tenure there, but obviously, with the whole COVID-19 pandemic and canceling the season, I had to make a really tough decision on what I want to do with my future. The option for me to stay at Shippensburg wasn't looking the best, so I decided to enter the transfer portal. I had many conversations with my coaching staff and they definitely understood. I think you see a lot of players go into the transfer portal, whether it's because of no playing time or problems with the coaching staff, but this definitely wasn't one of those situations. The coaches knew I was just trying to put myself in the best position, so they supported me 100 percent.
Snyder: Why is Penn State the right school then? From what I understand, you haven't really been up here much. Is this just mainly about trusting Coach Franklin, trusting in the future of the program? I assume you've seen their depth chart at the position. They have talent, but not a ton of experience at wide receiver.
Eubanks: Definitely. I would probably say that it's a combination of everything you just said. Some of the things that are big for me are character and trust, and I feel like that's something that Coach Franklin has developed within his program. The depth chart was definitely part of it as well. I do feel like there's an opportunity for me to contribute, not only on the offensive side but on special teams as well. Also, just the culture there. I mean, honestly, this is a program that's very historic and prestigious. It was very hard for me to pass up an opportunity.
Snyder: Have you got to know Taylor Stubblefield much? He got here right before everything started shutting down. I feel like Penn State fans haven't gotten the opportunity to get to know him. Is there anything you can share about him?
Eubanks: It's been tough for me to talk to him a lot because of the recruiting dead period, but from what I've seen, he's excited to get to know people. The recruiting dead period has made it so difficult. Like you just said, there hasn't been many events for people to know him. It's the same with recruiting. Going up there and getting to know him would help me a lot, too. But from the talks we've had, he seems like a really great guy. I'm definitely excited to be coached by him, definitely excited to see how to play wide receiver through his vision. He seems to be a guy who's very technical. He was very successful at Purdue. He wasn't the fastest, but he really made a big impact when he was playing. That tells he's big on technique. So, I'm excited to kind of see what he can teach me, see what I can learn, and see how we can make this entire group of wide receivers better.
Snyder: You mentioned that you reached out the former Penn State players to get their opinion before you made this move. Can you share any of those discussions?
Eubanks: I talked to a couple guys. I talked to Weston Carr, the Division II receiver that transferred to Penn State last year. Obviously, it didn't work out how I'm sure he would've wanted it to work out, but when I was talking to him, he had nothing but great things to say about the coaching staff. That was something that was important to me because, obviously, if I go up there and whatever happens, I don't you pan out or I get injured, I know I'm still going to be taken care of, which is something that's important to me. I wanted to play for an intelligent coaching staff, as well. I talked to players like Cole Chiappialle, who actually walked on at Penn State, played a little bit, then tore his ACL and eventually transferred to Shippensburg. I actually got really close to him, so I was talking to him about his experience and he was saying how he knew I would definitely get my chance there as long as I work for it. He said that's how you become successful there. He watched it with Allen Robinson and with several other guys. Those guys just put their head down and worked, which is what I do, too. So, that was one of the biggest talks I had.
Snyder: Did any schools offer a scholarship? Did you pass up a scholarship to come to Penn State?
Eubanks: Yeah, a few of those schools did offer scholarships. I'm not going to get into each school. That's their business, but it definitely gave me something to think about. For me, the money wasn't the biggest thing. I really just wanted to find the best opportunity. I was on partial scholarship at Shippensburg. Those schools don't really offer full scholarships. I just wanted to find the best opportunity for me to show what I can do. Penn State allows me to do that, and it's on the biggest stage. I do believe that I am a scholarship-caliber player, but for this one year, it was more important to find the best opportunity.
Snyder: Was there one school that maybe gave Penn State the biggest challenge? Who did this really come down to?
Eubanks: You know, I'm not sure. That's a good question. I did my research on a lot of schools, but I got the most quality answers from Penn State. Not even just from the coaches, but just from everyone I've been hearing from. I went to high school in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, at La Salle College High School. So many Penn State alum come from there, so I was reaching out to those guys. I'm reaching out to players, I'm reaching out to students that I know there. So it was easy for me to get answers about Penn State. For me, I like to be well-informed when I make big decisions. I really don't think another school came close when it came down to it.
Snyder: I've seen your name mentioned as someone who could get an opportunity at the professional level. When you were at Shippensburg, did NFL scouts show interest in you? Were they reaching out to your coach much?
Eubanks: There's definitely been some interest from several NFL teams. I didn't talk to them personally, but my coach was letting me know that teams were interested. There were a couple teams there were supposed to come up to Shippensburg the day that we got back from spring break. They wanted me to run a 40, check my height, my weight, do the Wonderlic test, all of that. But, when we went home for spring break, obviously, we never came back. The teams then pulled all their scouts off the road, and that just never ended up happening.
Snyder: I know you put up some impressive times running track in high school. Do you know any measurements nowadays? Have you run the 40 lately? Have you done a vertical, a shuttle, anything like that?
Eubanks: Honestly, I don't know them off the top of my head. I did do the virtual combine for Penn State, but I don't remember what my times were.
Snyder: What did you think of Penn State's virtual combine? I've only talked to a handful of guys that have completed it.
Eubanks: Yeah, I thought it definitely made sense for me because I was already anticipating on doing that. Once they announced that our season was going to be canceled, I figured I'm not going to have a pro day or anything like that, I'm not going to get advice on how to do those combine drills, so I'm gonna have to do something virtual. So, I was already training for it. Then, it just so happened that Penn State asked me to do a virtual combine, so it gave me a feel for what I should be doing, and it gave me a chance to show them what I can do. It worked out well for me.
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