What Makes Penn State Wide Receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith Tick? No. 1 Through 12

No. 1. That pretty much sums up who KeAndre Lambert-Smith is — and aspires to be — heading into Penn State’s 2023 football season.

The fourth-year wide receiver began his Nittany Lion career wearing jersey No. 13. Then he switched to No. 1 at the start of the 2022 season.

Watching K.J. Hamler, wearing No. 1, tear through the Ohio State secondary at the 2018 Whiteout, led to KLS picking PSU.

Lambert-Smith strives to be the No. 1 receiver for Penn State in 2023, a role that is up for grabs. His new roommate, Kent State transfer Dante Cephas, is also a candidate to be Drew Allar’s top target. Cephas, who will wear No. 3, is a Pittsburgh (Penn Hills) native and had 145 receptions for 2,139 yards and 12 TDs in four seasons (2019-2022) at Kent State.

KLS also claims to be the quickest player in the Penn State wide receivers room, and boasts of a 4.29 time in the 40.

Need to know more about the 6-foot-1, 188-pound speedster from Norfolk, Virginia? Here are 12 nuggets about Lambert-Smith, straight from No. 1 himself:

1. Being No. 1. “I always carry myself like I’m that type of (No. 1) guy. It was just a matter of time until this opportunity presented itself. But I always looked at myself as the No. 1, so there is no pressure for me. I’m not looking at it differently in any way. I’m being consistent in my habits. I’m preparing to be that guy that the team is going to depend on in every situation.”

2. Blooming in the Rose Bowl: three catches for 124 yards, a Rose Bowl record 88-yard TD reception. “The bowl game was definitely good for me and my personal mind… It’s nice to have a little record in the Rose Bowl. It’s nice, I’m not going to lie to you… It ended strong with momentum to carry on to my next season. It was great. It was just a sneak peek, like a little taste of what I can do. To have opportunities like that and to present itself towards the end of the season, is just a preview of what’s going to happen next year.”

3. Quarterback Drew Allar’s strengths. “I see the same things everybody sees in Drew. He’s a great quarterback, with a strong arm for sure. That’s what stands out about him. He’s strong and powerful, so as a receiver you have to realize that. He’s assuming that leadership role as well. He’s been talking more, trying to lead us.”

4. QB1 and WR1 are pals. “I don’t try to force that relationship with Drew just to get as many touches as possible. Drew’s a cool guy. He’s not that much of a going-out type of person. But you know, we chop it up in the locker room. We got handshakes. We build chemistry by getting up almost every day and getting up on weekends, just doing that chemistry and being consistent doing that. I think that’s building our relationship — not just our relationship, but the whole offense in general.”

5. Room for Kent State WR transfer Dante Cephas. “He just got here not too long ago. He’s actually my roommate. He’s a cool guy, laid back, funny. You can tell he’s a seasoned vet, like he’s somebody who produced and put up numbers somewhere else. He’s coming in pretty polished and a worker. He’s just what we expected from him. He fits in well with the guys.”

6. The bond with new WR coach Marques Hagans. “He’s been great. I tell everybody — I had the best relationship with Coach Hagans during my recruiting process. He was just at UVA and him coming here for what could be one of my last years, possibly, I feel like it’s meant to be. He’s genuine, (I like) his wife, his kids. We got handshakes. You can tell he cares about his players. He takes different players out to eat, randomly; it doesn’t have to be the top guy in the room. He treats all the guys the same. I can’t wait to see what we do this year.”

7. Positioned for success. “I was at slot all spring ball. So I don’t know if I am going to be primarily slot come camp or move outside or move around.”

8. Focus, focus, focus. “My focus is just being more explosive and adding more speed, plus elusiveness after the catch. I feel like that’s been a focal point of mine. That’s where I want to emphasize my game through spring ball and then into camp — just making more plays after the catch. And I think I’ve been doing that.”

9. Quantifying that quickness and speed. “I like to think I’m the quickest guy in the room. But if you ask somebody else, they may say (Cristian) Driver. But I do think I’m pretty quick. My fastest 40 here is 4.29, but I just ran a 4.34 and that was with a bad start. I’m a low 4.3 guy, I’m telling you. A lot of people don’t think I’m fast because it hasn’t been showcased a lot. But I got a lot of speed.”

10. The spotlight. “I just like playing in big-time games. That was the reason I came to Penn State — for the fans. I committed when I was at the Ohio State game (in 2018) and I saw K.J. (Hamler) crib the slant. The lights go on and flash, it was like, ‘I’m coming here.’ I didn’t know I was going to have (jersey) No. 1 like K.J. I feel like the more eyes watching me, the better I do. I like putting on a show and making plays.”

11. Opportunity knocks in 2023. “It may just be a maturity thing, like knowing it is my time and just wanting to be sure I don’t want to miss this opportunity. I’m No. 1. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity. I want to do everything in my power so I can’t look back and be like, ‘Ah, I missed that opportunity.’ ”

12. KLS by the numbers.