NEW YORK — Penn State has 67 scholarship players on its football roster and coach Bill O’Brien sees no reason why that will change significantly by the time the season starts Aug. 31.

O’Brien said Wednesday he doesn’t expect a second wave of departures from the Nittany Lions, even though NCAA sanctions still allow his players to transfer without sitting out a season.

Ten players transferred out of Penn State after the NCAA handed down severe sanctions last summer in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. O’Brien was forced to prepare for his first preseason practice with uncertainty over who would show up for training camp.

Players can still leave without penalty until the 2013 season starts, but O’Brien said he has not spent any time this offseason re-recruiting his guys.

“I don’t see the mass exodus coming,” O’Brien said before speaking to a banquet hall full of Penn State supporters in midtown Manhattan. “We’re going to coach who shows up July 31st for training camp. I think we’re way past that. I think our kids are committed.”

The Penn State coaches’ caravan was making one of its final stops before heading home to State College. O’Brien quoted his predecessor, Joe Paterno, as he finished off his pep talk, appealing to the crowd to fill Beaver Stadium on Saturdays.