Michigan RB CJ Hester departs program, plans to enter transfer portal

Michigan running back CJ Hester has left the Wolverines program, his agent Zach Cardenez tells On3. The former UMass and Western Michigan transfer will finish out classes this fall and redshirt.

Hester is expected to enter the transfer portal as a grad transfer and have two years of eligibility remaining. Michigan revamped its running back room this offseason, picking up Alabama transfer Justice Haynes. Haynes and Jordan Marshall are expected to man the top two spots in the backfield.

Michigan has two returning backs competing for the third spot on the depth chart in junior Bryson Kuzdzal and sophomore Micah Ka’apana. The Wolverines also added grad transfer running back John Volker from Princeton.

With only so many snaps to go around, CJ Hester has decided to redshirt and enter the transfer portal. Last season at UMass, the running back posted 119 carries for 529 yards and four touchdowns after transferring in from Western Michigan. During the 2024 season, he rushed for 74 yards against Georgia. In 2023, he had 29 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns with the Broncos.

A spring transfer portal pickup, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound running back did not participate in Michigan’s spring camp. Michigan’s interest in Hester came soon after losing junior running back Ben Hall to the transfer portal. Hall was expected to be the third running back behind Marshall and Haynes.

“It was genuine,” CJ Hester’s father, Clarence, told The Wolverine this spring. “Usually when you go through this recruitment process, you find out people aren’t genuine. They use a used car salesman type of pitch. This was not the case. It was genuine. It was straightforward. There was honesty in the room. You appreciate that those are the type of men my son is going to be around. We loved it.”