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<p>John Cappelletti&#8217;s No. 22 jersey will now officially be retired.</p><p>The last man to wear the number for Penn State, Akeel Lynch, thanked the Nittany Lions legend on Wednesday while announcing that he will transfer after earning his diploma at the end of the spring semester.</p><p>Lynch&#8217;s decision is based on playing time and comes as no surprise after Saquon Barkley firmly grabbed hold of the starting job at running back.</p><p>After returning from a knee injury in October, Lynch touched the ball just eight times in Penn State&#8217;s final seven games &#8212; six carries for 20 yards and two catches for six yards.</p><p>With his degree in hand, the Toronto native will be eligible to play his fifth and final season for any school this fall as a graduate transfer &#8212; the same path taken by WVC alum Eugene Lewis, who is moving from Penn State to Oklahoma.</p><p>&#8220;This has been tough on me because Penn State has provided me a home for the past four years, even when times were tough,&#8221; Lynch wrote in an open letter. &#8220;During those times, I couldn&#8217;t be any more honored to wear the blue and white, because being here made me realize that the legacy at Penn State could not be destroyed by one man.&#8221;</p><p>That &#8220;one man,&#8221; of course, would be former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was indicted on dozens of charges of child abuse around the time Lynch was deciding on a college.</p><p>It was an event that shaped Lynch and his 2012 recruiting class, which signed on just three months after the scandal broke. He and Lewis were two of the highest-rated prospects in the group, having received scholarship offers from Joe Paterno, signing with Bill O&#8217;Brien and finishing their Penn State careers under James Franklin.</p><p>Lynch thanked all three head coaches and their support staffs as well as Cappelletti, the program&#8217;s lone Heisman Trophy winner. In 2013, Penn State announced that his No. 22 would be the first to be retired by the school.</p><p>Cappelletti requested that Lynch, a redshirt freshman at the time, be allowed to keep the number until the end of his career, a gesture that Lynch hasn&#8217;t forgotten.</p><p>&#8220;I want to thank John Cappelletti for allowing me to wear #22 for my four years here,&#8221; Lynch wrote.</p><p>Lynch leaves Penn State with 1,318 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, with his best stretch coming in the final weeks of the 2014 season when he supplanted Bill Belton as the Lions&#8217; feature back.</p><p>But in 2015, it was Lynch who lost carries to a younger back as Barkley proved to be too good to keep off the field. The Lehigh Valley native broke the Penn State record for rushing yards by a freshman, finishing with 1,076 in roughly nine games of action.</p><p>As a result, Lynch&#8217;s snaps were slashed dramatically.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of guys might have sulked,&#8221; Franklin said during the season, &#8220;but Akeel has been incredibly positive the entire way. He&#8217;s been a great mentor to our younger guys. Saquon is always stuck to his side, asking questions.</p><p>&#8220;Really, really proud of Akeel Lynch and how he&#8217;s handled himself.&#8221;</p><p>Penn State has more than just Barkley returning for 2016. On top of Nick Scott and Mark Allen, who filled in when Lynch and Barkley were injured, the Lions also redshirted Mechanicsburg&#8217;s Andre Robinson, who was rated the state&#8217;s No. 2 running back behind Barkley coming out of high school.</p><p>Beyond that, Penn State has a verbal commitment from Pittsburgh&#8217;s Miles Sanders, rated by at least one recruiting service as the nation&#8217;s best running back in the 2016 class. He is set to join the Lions on signing day on Feb. 3.</p><p>Lynch will still be around campus in the meantime to finish up his economics degree.</p><p>&#8220;Regardless of everything,&#8221; Lynch wrote, &#8220;Penn State will always be considered home.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">With the emergence of Saquon Barkley at running back, Akeel Lynch (22) is stepping aside at Penn State, announcing that he will transfer after the spring. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_lynch-leaves2016113171022164.jpg</photo0><caption0>With the emergence of Saquon Barkley at running back, Akeel Lynch (22) is stepping aside at Penn State, announcing that he will transfer after the spring. </caption0><photoCredit0>Matt Slocum | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penn State RB Akeel Lynch plans to transfer after graduating