By Glenn Guilbeau, Gannett Louisiana

Former Penn State starting quarterback Rob Bolden reported to LSU on Wednesday morning and will join the team at its first practice Thursday, LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette confirmed.

"I saw him in the athletic building," Bonnette said. "His flight got in at about 10 a.m. I saw him at about 11."

Bolden is part of a wave of departures from State College in the wake of NCAA sanctions announced against Penn State last week. However, Penn State had indicated that Bolden was given a release from his scholarship before the NCAA announcement. Because of the four-year bowl ban that was part of the penalties, the NCAA granted all players the freedom to transfer without having to sit out a season and without having to immediately count against their new school's scholarship total.

Bolden, a junior who started parts of the 2010 and '11 seasons for the Nittany Lions, will wear a No. 1 jersey but is expected to be the No. 2 quarterback behind starter Zach Mettenberger as LSU's only other two scholarship quarterbacks are redshirt freshmen Stephen Rivers and Jerrard Randall. Neither has taken a snap.

"Certainly, he's a guy who's taken big-time snaps in big-time games," LSU coach Les Miles said of Bolden. "He's a need, considering the youth behind the quarterback."

Miles said he and his staff have been in contact with Bolden for months as Bolden had considered transferring from Penn State going back to the end of the 2010 season. LSU also recruited Bolden out of St. Mary's High in Orchard Lake, Mich., in 2009-10.

"Two or three months ago he contacted us via his high school coach," Miles said. "He was thinking about a transfer irrespective of what was going on at Penn State.

"He had thought about transferring after his freshman year. He visited last weekend, and we met his mom and dad. He'll be a nice addition. He's played in big games. He's walked onto the field in loud stadiums."

Bolden started 16 games over the last two seasons at Penn State. In 2010, he became the first true freshman to open a season at Penn State as the starting quarterback in a century. He completed 58% of his passes (112-for-193) for 1,360 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions in 2010. Last season, he he completed just 39.3% (53-for-135) for 685 yards with seven interceptions and two touchdowns. He lost his starting job to Matt McGloin and exited Penn's State's last spring drills at No. 3 on the depth chart.