After entering transfer portal, Penn RB Malachi Hosley says he’s ‘not leaving for the wrong reasons’

Minutes after Penn fell to Princeton in its final game of the season on Nov. 23, star running back Malachi Hosley announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.

“[I want to] let people know I’m not leaving for the wrong reasons,” said Hosley, a sophomore. “Yes, I love Penn so it’s nothing to do with Penn.”

With the portal opening on Monday, Holsey has 13 offers, including Houston, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and Cincinnati.

Penn (4-6, 2-5 Ivy League) ended a turbulent season tied for last in the league. But Hosley was one of the only constants on Penn’s offense, rushing for 1,192 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games.

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Hosley was a unanimous All-Ivy first-team selection and is a finalist for the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, honoring the national Offensive Player of the Year in the Football Championship Subdivision.

“I just had a plan. I just trusted the guys around me, trusted the coaches, and they helped me execute my plan,” Hosley said.

In the week leading up to Penn’s final game, Hosley informed coaches that he would be entering the portal. He added that this decision was “building over the season.”

Upon the news of his transfer becoming public, Hosley wrote to The Inquirer: “I just wanted to better my chances at going to the [NFL] and prove to myself I can play against any level of competition.”

Hosley also pointed to the ability to profit off his name, image, and likeness at bigger programs.

“It just helps,” Hosley said of these potential deals. “Like it doesn’t hurt, it just helps.”

But he does not blame Penn or the Ivy League for the lack of NIL opportunities.

“They do what they can, because it’s kind of new to them,” Hosley said. “Like, I know we have a website, and they try to push deals through it. So they’re trying, we just don’t get the best opportunities.”

Hosley said the conference was “going in the right direction” in terms of listening to players, pointing to the Ivy League’s recent consideration of letting teams participate in the FCS playoffs. Ivy League teams have not vied for an FCS championship since 1945 after the signing of the Ivy Group Agreement, which also banned athletic scholarships.

The Ivy League has lost talent in the age of the transfer portal and NIL deals. Last season, Harvard’s men’s basketball team lost Ivy Rookie of the Year Malik Mack to Georgetown. The Penn men’s basketball team lost the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year Jordan Dingle to the portal. Last season, guard Tyler Perkins left the Quakers for Villanova after a productive freshman year.

“We are seeing the best athletes leave [the Ivy League] because we’re all chasing that better opportunity that we can’t get here,” Hosley said.

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As the Ancient Eight schools have rejected the adoption of NIL collectives, they are continuing to recruit players purely off the academic and professional opportunities they can offer. During his college recruitment, Hosley weighed offers from Penn and Harvard. Now, he is leaving behind an Ivy League undergraduate degree.

“I would say it just depends on what you’re leaving [the Ivy League] for. What’s the reason behind it, your pros and your cons,” Hosley said.

Raised in Columbus, Ga., Hosley would prefer to head south for his next program.

“I want to play [Power Four] level, any team there, preferably somewhere closer to home,” Hosley said.