AUBURN — Perhaps transfer receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith liked what he saw from the opposite sideline.

Lambert-Smith, who led Penn State in receptions (53) and receiving yards (673) last season, has played against quarterback Payton Thorne three times at the collegiate level. Each of those bouts came while Thorne was at Michigan State, where he spent the first four seasons of his career before entered the portal and arriving at Auburn football in May 2023.

Thorne and the Spartans went 1-2 against Lambert-Smith and the Nittany Lions, but the former posted some solid numbers in those games — 822 passing yards and six passing touchdowns on a 58% completion rate and a 2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Regardless of what Lambert-Smith thought of Thorne while the two were opponents, they're teammates now. Auburn pulled off a fairly substantial coup in April, landing the former Penn State standout out of the portal and adding him to a receiving corps that features four blue-chip freshman.

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"He’s done a great job," Auburn offensive coordinator Derrick Nix said of Lambert-Smith on Thursday. "Besides his athletic ability and being a great receiver, but being more of a veteran guy and a leader in that room with all those young wideouts of how to do things the right way. I thought his summer was excellent, getting ready. You can just tell that he’s done this before.”

Lambert-Smith certainly has experience. He's appeared in 48 games from 2020-23, and he's hauled in 126 catches for 1,721 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns. One of his most impressive games came in a matchup against Thorne's Spartans in November 2022, when Lambert-Smith caught five passes for 83 yards and a score and also tossed a 48-yard TD on a double pass.

With so many young receivers on the roster, Auburn used that in its recruiting pitch to Lambert-Smith.

"It's been fantastic to have him in the room," receivers coach Marcus Davis said. "He's another coach — he and Rob (Lewis) both. I can't say enough about those guys. They're extensions of us as coaches. It means something to them. Even with how those guys come and sit in meeting rooms − they're in there 15 minutes early, trying to find a way to get better.

"It means something to them. You can tell they're motivated. You can tell both of those guys have played a lot of football. I think, ultimately, it's going to continue to help those younger guys, too, because they're seeing what it looks like. You don't have to motivate the motivated. Those guys have a chip on their shoulder, to prove whatever."

Nix said the Tigers treated Lambert-Smith's situation like he was a free agent in the NFL. With only one year of eligibility remaining, Auburn sold Lambert-Smith on having the opportunity to play with a veteran QB in Thorne and having the chance to improve as a leader.

"We're huge on relationships here, and I think ultimately that’s what led KeAndre to coming here," Davis said. "... He felt that he could blossom, he felt that he could be himself here and he also felt good about Payton Thorne and he felt good about the younger receivers he could leave an impact on.

"I think all of those things resonated with him. He wanted to be a leader, and he saw a golden opportunity to come in and be that."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: KeAndre Lambert-Smith: How Auburn football landed coveted transfer WR