QB Jalen Mayden and OL Nick Pendley enter transfer portal

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State redshirt sophomore quarterback Jalen Mayden and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Nick Pendley have entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Mayden, a former consensus four-star prospect coming out of Sachse High School in Texas, accumulated 9,472 yards and 114 touchdowns during his prep career. He was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback recruit from the state of Texas according to 247Sports.

As a senior, he completed 139 of 227 passes for 2,170 yards and 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also rushed 114 times for 784 yards and another 13 touchdowns. As a junior, he threw for 2,875 yards and 27 touchdowns. He added 634 yards rushing with 11 touchdowns. He was a finalist for both the Under Armour Quarterback of the Year and Texas Class 6A Offensive Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound southpaw appeared in three games in his Mississippi State career, completing one of two pass attempts and rushing for 32 yards on seven carries in 2018. He didn’t appear in any games in 2019 or 2020.

Pendley was a three-star offensive tackle prospect out of Creekview High School in Georgia. He was considered the No. 74 prospect in Georgia by 247Sports.

He appeared in six games for the Bulldogs, including the first four games of the 2020 season.

Pendley took to Twitter to announce his decision.

“I want to say thank you to Mississippi State University for the opportunity you gave me,” Pendley wrote in his tweet. “I would also like to thank the coaches, teammates, and especially the Entire HailState Nation For embracing me as one of your own.”