Portal Rumor Mill: Contenders emerging for top portal prospects

The transfer portal opened on Tuesday and as expected there was a flood of players looking for a new opportunity elsewhere. With that said, there are a lot of rumors about which programs are looking best for many of these top players.

Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has the latest in this Portal Rumor Mill:

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The Illinois tight end has hit the portal and has heard from a bunch of programs including UMass, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Holy Cross and many others. The former three-star from Princeton (N.J.) The Hun School is not narrowing down his list and remains open to all programs that are reaching out.

The three-star offensive lineman from Roebuck (S.C.) Dorman has left North Carolina and is in the portal and Geth is already landing a lot of considerable interest. East Carolina, Appalachian State, Cincinnati, South Alabama, Georgia State, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Tulsa and UConn are some of them.

Howard transferred from Youngstown State to Texas A&M during the winter portal season and is now on the move again after working out for spring practice in College Station. In five seasons at Youngstown State, Howard totaled 142 tackles and is now hearing the most from Duke, Virginia, Pitt, Charlotte and UConn.

The former UNLV cornerback who had a team-high seven pass deflections last season is hearing from a lot of programs since the former two-star from Houston (Texas) Cypress Falls entered the portal but the ones to mainly watch are Virginia, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and Arizona.

After transferring from South Florida to Georgia Tech for this past season, Kelly is on the move again as the high three-star defensive lineman is hearing a lot already from Missouri, Indiana, Memphis, Western Kentucky, Cincinnati and more.

After stops at Arizona State and Louisville, Lole will be back on the move and a big stop is coming up this weekend as he visits Oklahoma for its spring game. And now three other visits are on the books as the former Long Beach (Calif.) Poly standout in the 2018 class who will see Washington, Texas A&M and USC before making his decision.

There has been a lot of chatter over the last couple days that South Florida could be a very realistic landing spot for the five-star cornerback who spent one season at Colorado and is expected to hit the transfer portal. That’s because McClain has a strong relationship with position coach DeMarcus Van Dyke and might have ended up at Miami in the first place if Van Dyke landed a bigger role on the Hurricanes’ staff. There is also word he wants to play somewhere warmer and so it makes sense but one source said he doesn’t think “it will turn into anything” as Louisville, Georgia and many other programs have been all over McClain since he announced his intentions.

The former three-star who was rated as a defensive end but now plays tight end transferred from Cincinnati to Colorado in December but is on the move again after only 10 spring practices. The former Miami (Fla.) North Miami standout (who had been committed to the Hurricanes once in his recruitment) has already heard from South Florida, Texas A&M, Pitt, Memphis, Oregon State and others.

The River Ridge (La.) John Curtis prospect who started his college career at Nicholls State and then starred this past season at Texas Southern with 43 tackles and 3.5 sacks has seen his recruitment take off since entering the portal. Noel is mainly focused on three teams right now although other offers could change it as Baylor, NC State and Appalachian State have caught his eye.

The former three-star cornerback from Tampa (Fla.) Carrollwood Day spent one season at Michigan State before hitting the portal and right now two teams - UCLA and Virginia Tech - are standing out the most. Cal, Rice, Georgia Southern and FIU and others are reaching out to Pleasant as well.

Houston has seen a flood of players enter the transfer portal including Shaw, a former three-star offensive lineman from Manvel, Texas. Old Dominion, Memphis and Liberty are the three programs that have been reaching out most with him so far but others could definitely get involved.

Second at ULM last season with 24 catches for 400 yards and two touchdowns, Wiley transferred to Nevada during the first portal window but stayed only a brief time before jumping back in as he’s now getting Power Five interest. Washington State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas are the three programs showing the most interest now.

Ranked as the No. 132 prospect in the 2023 Rivals250, the four-star receiver spent only one season in Athens before hitting the transfer portal and he’s already receiving some serious interest. Minnesota and North Carolina are pressing him to commit soon and Arizona State has jumped in as well. The word is Williams and Cormani McClain have been texting regularly about landing at the same program so that’s something to watch as well.

The former high three-star offensive tackle from Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon spent two seasons at Oregon but hardly played in part because of injury and now Wooten is looking for a new home. Arizona, Fresno State and Nevada are the three schools standing out most right now although others could definitely pop up.