Ole Miss, Syracuse and other weekend winners in college footballs transfer portal
Two weeks into college football’s winter transfer window, this portal cycle seems wilder than ever.
More than 1,300 FBS scholarship players are looking for new homes at the same time, and the sheer number of big-name quarterbacks on the move has been dizzying to try to follow. After packing as many official visits as possible into the past few days, teams are rapidly scooping up commitments. In fact, 20 percent of the scholarship players who have entered the portal for this window are already taken.
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Here’s a closer look at six programs that won the weekend in transfer portal recruiting, starting with the incredible class that’s in the works in Oxford, Miss.
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Ole Miss
Transfer commits (9): WR Antwane Wells Jr. (South Carolina), OL Gerquan Scott (Southern Miss), DL Tyler Baron (Tennessee), DL Princely Umanmielen (Florida), LB Chris Paul Jr. (Arkansas), DB Key Lawrence (Oklahoma), DB Tamarion McDonald (Tennessee), DB Louis Moore (Indiana), DB Tahveon Nicholson (Illinois)
Ole Miss is going for it in 2024. The hype train has officially left the station.
Lane Kiffin, an annual contender for “Portal King” status, and his staff are hard at work assembling their best transfer portal class yet. The Rebels have the top class in the 247Sports transfer class rankings. If they reel in some of the big-time players still on their board, it’s hard to envision anybody knocking them out of the No. 1 spot.
A commitment on Sunday from Juice Wells, the No. 1 wide receiver in the transfer portal, was just the latest massive win. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound grad transfer was a first-team All-SEC performer in 2022 who caught 68 passes for 928 yards and six touchdowns in his debut season with the Gamecocks. A foot injury limited Wells to just three games this fall, but he’s a legitimate difference-maker when he’s 100 percent.
Ole Miss doesn’t need much on offense; the Rebels expect quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Quinshon Judkins, leading receiver Tre Harris and nearly everyone else back next year. This year’s portal haul is primarily about shoring up a defense that made good progress in defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s first year — rising from No. 11 to No. 6 in the SEC in scoring defense during conference play — but needs to take the next step. It’s off to one heck of a start.
Umanmielen and Baron, two of the top edge defenders in the portal, are heading to Ole Miss. Mississippi State transfer Decamerion Richardson, the No. 1 cornerback in The Athletic’s best available rankings, could be next. He’d be joining a group that over the weekend secured two more multi-year starters in the secondary in Lawrence and McDonald.
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“This might be the best recruiting month in Ole Miss history,” one team source said, “and it’s not done.”
The huge question now: Can Ole Miss land Walter Nolen? The Texas A&M transfer defensive lineman is the consensus No. 1 player in the portal and just visited campus. His father effectively summed up the big impression Ole Miss made in an interview with 247Sports: “They got something cooking over there.” Nolen to Ole Miss is not a done deal at this point, but there’s increasing optimism about the Rebels’ chances of landing the Class of 2022’s No. 2 overall recruit.
With or without Nolen, Ole Miss is gearing up for a College Football Playoff run. After a 10-2 season and a return trip to a New Year’s Six bowl, expectations are sky-high heading into the debut year of the expanded 12-team Playoff. There are too many good players coming back — and too many coming in — for this program to expect anything less.
When you compare the newly released 2024 SEC schedule with the one they just played, the Rebels are getting Oklahoma, Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina in place of Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn and Vanderbilt. Their Power 5 nonconference game is Wake Forest. Georgia is still on the schedule, but that’s a slate that sets up nicely for 10-plus wins for the third time in four years.
Ole Miss would’ve been the No. 11 seed in a 12-team playoff this year. It’s aiming much higher in 2024.
Transfer commits (12): QB Tyler Shough (Texas Tech), RB Donald Chaney Jr. (Miami), WR Ja’Corey Brooks (Alabama), WR Caullin Lacy (South Alabama), TE Tanner Koziol (Ball State), TE Mark Redman (San Diego State), OL Victor Cutler Jr. (Ohio State), OL Jonathan Mendoza (Yale), OL Pete Nygra (Northern Illinois), DL Thor Griffith (Harvard), DL Jordan Guerad (FIU), DB Corey Thornton (UCF)
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After far exceeding expectations in Jeff Brohm’s first season, Louisville is loading up to stay in ACC title contention and landing lots of exciting newcomers. As Cardinal Authority’s Jody Demling noted, this staff has already brought in a whopping 20 transfers on official visits in the past two weeks. So far, a dozen have jumped on board.
The Cardinals’ latest pickups include a trio of playmakers in Lacy, Chaney and Brooks, plus two new offensive linemen in Nygra and Cutler, a veteran defensive back in Thornton and the successful flip of Guerad, a first-team All-CUSA defensive tackle who had committed to Minnesota. All of those additions have helped the Cardinals rise to No. 3 in the 247Sports rankings as of Sunday night.
Lacy is going to be a problem in Brohm’s offense. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior was the nation’s fourth-leading receiver in yards per game and turned 91 catches into 1,316 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He pulled off a seven-game streak of 100-yard performances, including 104 yards and two scores in South Alabama’s 33-7 win at Oklahoma State.
Brooks, a former five-star, was Alabama’s second-leading receiver in 2022 but missed much of this season with a shoulder injury. Chaney rushed for 478 yards this season while splitting carries with three other backs. Redman and Koziol were two of the better tight ends in the portal. Shough could prove to be the most underrated quarterback pickup in this cycle if he can stay healthy. If you’re a Louisville fan, you’ve got to love how this is all coming together.
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TCU
Transfer commits (8): WR Braylon James (Notre Dame), WR Eric McAlister (Boise State), TE Drake Dabney (Baylor), OL Cade Bennett (San Diego State), OL Carson Bruno (Louisiana Tech), OL Bless Harris (Florida State), OL Howard Sampson (North Texas), DL Nana Osafo-Mensah (Notre Dame), LB Cooper McDonald (San Diego State)
TCU has moved quickly to attack its roster needs after its startling slide from 13-2 to 5-7 in Sonny Dykes’ second year left the program without a bowl invitation.
The Horned Frogs went heavy on transfers at wide receiver to reload at that position entering 2023 and got solid production from several newcomers, but McAlister should be an upgrade. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Texas native had put up 873 receiving yards and five touchdowns and was the second-leading receiver in the Mountain West before he left Boise State in early November. James was the No. 137 overall recruit in the 2023 class and is coming home after one year at Notre Dame. Dabney should also boost the Horned Frogs’ passing game after finishing No. 3 among Big 12 tight ends with 552 receiving yards this season, and TCU has pledges from three starter-caliber offensive linemen.
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Transitioning to a new defensive coordinator in Andy Avalos may require some defensive additions. McDonald brings 28 career starts from his stints at San Diego State and Washington, giving the Horned Frogs a veteran edge defender who should be a good fit. They were also able to get freshman linebacker Jonathan Bax to withdraw from the portal on Sunday. This portal class is far from finished; several more pledges are expected in the next few days.
Transfer commits (15): QB Walter Taylor (Vanderbilt), QB Destin Wade (Kentucky), WR Will Sheppard (Vanderbilt), WR Cordale Russell (TCU), WR Terrell Timmons Jr. (NC State), TE Chamon Metayer (Cincinnati), OL Matthew Bedford (Indiana), OL Kahlil Benson (Indiana), OL Tyler Johnson (Houston), OL Justin Mayers (UTEP), OL Yakiri Walker (UConn), DL Anquin Barnes (Alabama), DL Quency Wiggins (LSU), LB Keaten Wade (Kentucky), DB Preston Hodge (Liberty)
The massive need along the offensive line has been addressed. Colorado has picked up five linemen in Bedford, Benson, Johnson, Mayers and Walker who’ve made a combined 114 career starts and played more than 8,100 snaps. Those additions are extremely meaningful for Shedeur Sanders and his ability to build off an impressive debut season. Now what else do the Buffaloes need?
Wiggins is an intriguing pickup, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end who was a top-100 recruit but played sparingly in two seasons at LSU. Russell, another top-100 recruit who calls himself “Baby T.O.,” didn’t catch a pass in his freshman season with TCU but is a physically gifted wideout at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. Both jumped on board on Sunday and could be steals if this staff can bring out the best in them. Hodge should be a big help, too. He graded out as the second-best corner in Conference USA this season at Liberty, according to Pro Football Focus.
Texas Tech
Transfer commits (8): WR Caleb Douglas (Florida), WR Josh Kelly (Washington State), TE Jalin Conyers (Arizona State), OL Davion Carter (Memphis), OL Vinny Sciury (Toledo), DB Devynn Cromwell (Guelph), DB Jovon Jackson (Fairmont State), P Jack Burgess (Weber State)
The Red Raiders aimed to take the next step as Big 12 contenders in Year 2 under Joey McGuire and couldn’t make good on those expectations in a season wrecked by injuries. They closed on a positive note with a 34-14 win over Cal in the Independence Bowl on Saturday night to finish 7-6. Despite having to spend much of this critical recruiting week in Shreveport, La., McGuire and his staff did a great job of reeling in some impact additions to aid a turnaround in 2024.
Texas Tech needed to reload at wide receiver after losing six to the portal this month, so landing Kelly on Friday was critical. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound wideout ranked No. 8 in the Pac-12 in receiving yards this season with 923 yards and eight touchdowns on 61 catches after transferring up from Fresno State. He’ll be a sixth-year senior in 2024 and team up with incoming five-star recruit Micah Hudson as well as Douglas, a big target who’s coming home to Texas for a bigger role after two seasons with the Gators. Conyers was another key homecoming pledge and one of the best tight ends in the portal. Carter and Sciury are proven multi-year starting guards who’ll help up front.
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Cromwell was one of the more fascinating finds in this cycle. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back comes from the University of Guelph in the Ontario University Athletics league in Canada. Several FBS staffs liked what Cromwell put on tape playing Canadian rules, where he defended receivers who can run pre-snap, and he chose the Red Raiders over West Virginia.
Transfer commits (4): QB Kyle McCord (Ohio State), WR Zeed Haynes (Georgia), WR Jackson Meeks (Georgia), LB James Heard (West Virginia)
It’s understandable if your initial reaction to hearing McCord committed on Sunday was, “I’m surprised he’s going to Syracuse.” Here’s a prediction: We’re going to be saying that more and more during new coach Fran Brown’s tenure.
Brown, the former Georgia defensive backs coach hired on Nov. 28, is going to make this program a more desirable destination for recruits and is building a staff that’s going to surprise people on the recruiting trail. It’s too soon to say how many transfers the Orange will take, but they lost 14 to the portal during this coaching change, so there’s room to add. The pledges from Haynes and Meeks hint at the possibility this staff could strike gold on some of the young talent leaving Georgia, and defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson gives them a shot to win on defensive end Fadil Diggs and some of Texas A&M’s departures.
But McCord is the kind of big splash Syracuse needed to get people’s attention. He didn’t play up to the Buckeyes’ extremely high standards but did go 11-1 in his lone season as their starter and can provide the kind of steady, efficient play and leadership this team needs to win games in Year 1. This portal class is small so far, but it’s one to watch.
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(Photo of Lane Kiffin: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
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