Oregon State running back Jam Griffin has once again entered the NCAA Transfer Portal
On Tuesday, On3 learned Oregon State running back Jam Griffin entered the portal for a second time. And it wasn’t shortly after the news broke Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin chimed in on the situation.
The now fourth-year coach in Oxford used his Twitter presence to cause quite the stir on Thursday. Kiffin tweeted out a news article Griffin had announced he was leaving Beaverton, Ore., for his final year of college football. The tweet currently has close to 300,000 views, as of this writing.
The interest is certainly real. And earned. Griffin, a former four-star prospect from Rome, Ga., was used in a running back by committee system at Oregon State. He ran for 488 yards on 86 carries, averaging 5.7 yards per touch. He scored four touchdowns in 2022, posting a season-high 84 yards rushing on 12 carries against Southern Cal.
Jam Griffin was named Georgia’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018.
He was also the 5A Offensive Player of the Year and was one of 10 players nominated for MaxPreps’ National Player of the Year. Griffin ran for 2,815 yards, the fifth-highest single-season total in Georgia history, on 288 carries with 38 touchdowns as a senior.
Furthermore, Griffin ran for 6,400 yards on 781 carries and score 104 touchdowns over the course of his prep career at Rome. He eventually signed with Georgia Tech over offers from Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida State, South Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, NC State, Purdue, Georgia, Indiana, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Cincinnati.
At Georgia Tech, Griffin played in 22 games, rushing for for 377 yards and two touchdowns.
Ole Miss could use another veteran presence in the backfield.
Quinshon Judkins is coming off a consensus All-American campaign but Kiffin and running backs coach Kevin Smith are going to do anything they can to keep him fresh for 12 games. Ulysses Bentley IV was banged up all season a year ago but he is full-go for 2023. But those two aren’t enough to make it through the grind of a Southeastern Conference slate.
True freshman Kedrick Reescano is as talented as they come, but this would be asking a lot of a teenager. Griffin would be a welcomed addition which has played a lot of Power 5 ball and has a unique skill set to compliment the Rebel group.
Damien Martinez and Deshaun Fenwick, are both back at Oregon State in 2023.
Martinez led the Beavers with 982 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Fenwick added 553 rushing yards and seven mor scores. Oregon State was one of only two Pac-12 teams to have three different running backs with at least 450 rushing yards last season.
Griffin is a graduate transfer and will be eligible to play in 2023, wherever he chooses to enroll.
