The transfer portal never stops, and it is starting to heat up with the end of spring football and the FCS spring season. Here are the latest rumors from the portal.
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Former Texas linebacker Juwan Mitchell has been a hot name from the portal. Just last week I mentioned that Tennessee and Miami had turned up their level of interest with the Texas transfer. Now it looks like that this will be the Vols’ race to lose. The coaching staff has made him a priority and after visiting Knoxville for the Tennessee spring game (and hanging out with recent commit Joe Milton) it will take a drastic change of plans for him to end up elsewhere.
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Former Vanderbilt safety Donovan Kaufman has been very popular in the portal and most expected him to commit quickly to Auburn, where former Vandy head coach Derek Mason is now the defensive coordinator. But he’s been patient so far with Zoom calls with Texas, Florida State and Tennessee, with the Longhorns being an early favorite if he doesn’t head to Auburn. Penn State, Georgia, Utah, Washington State and others have shown interest.
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Pitt offensive lineman Carson Van Lynn entered the portal on Monday, and as an experienced grad-transfer, the interest has been steady and abundant since that time. It is still a little early to name any leaders, but some of the schools that are in the picture include Florida State, Notre Dame, Texas, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Duke, Oklahoma State, BYU and Charlotte. He chose Pitt over Boston College, Kentucky and Indiana long ago, but those teams are not involved, to my knowledge. Watch out for Duke here as academics are important.
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Former Clemson running back Chez Mellusi was playing behind Travis Etienne, but he still showcased a good amount of potential during his two seasons. This has resulted in plenty of serious interest since he entered the portal on Monday. Purdue, Wisconsin, Liberty, UCF, Louisville and Vanderbilt are just a few of the schools to keep an eye on. While the list is plentiful, right now it is the Badgers that are the most aggressive and they are certainly attractive to running backs.
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While former USC defensive lineman Caleb Tremblay’s entry into the portal didn’t create too much of a buzz with fans, the grad-transfer defensive tackle has been very busy talking with schools in recent days. Texas Tech, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Texas and Washington are in early contention, with the Red Raiders being the ones to watch in the early going.
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FCS receiver Izaiah Gathings from Gardner-Webb is a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder who creates a matchup nightmare for defensive backs. After totaling 97 receptions for 1,313 yards and 13 touchdowns in his last 16 games, Gathings has picked up several FCS offers, plus his first FBS offers from Middle Tennessee and Charlotte. Other FBS programs that are taking a closer look include Utah, Illinois, Louisville, Coastal Carolina, UCF and Houston.
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FCS OL Kyle Hergel from the University of North Dakota already has offers from Washington State, Utah State and Texas State. Considered a road grader of an interior offensive lineman, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, BYU, USC, Purdue, Houston, Syracuse and Old Dominion are some of the schools that are most likely to offer next.
