Five notes on recent transfer portal developments

The spring transfer portal window is down to its final few days of being open.

Players have until the end of the day April 30 to enter the portal. School compliance offices then have two business days to submit a player’s name into the portal database. Then, after May 2, the only names that will be popping up in the portal prior to the 2023 season will essentially be periodic graduate transfers.

Nevertheless, it’s been an eventful last few days during this final stretch of the spring portal window. Here are five notes on recent developments.

Alabama

It became progressively more clear throughout Wednesday that Notre Dame QB transfer Tyler Buchner was not only likely to land at Alabama but that a commitment was probably coming in the near future. By the end of the night, word was already getting out that Buchner wasn’t going to be taking an expected Thursday trip to Auburn that the Tigers had been working to get locked in. Then, before the end of the morning Thursday, Buchner made it official that he’s transferring to ‘Bama and reuniting with his former Notre Dame offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees. Now, we’ll have to wait and see if there’s a fallout at all and if the move leads to some attrition within Alabama’s QB room. As you can probably imagine, there are some Power Five teams very much monitoring the situation and ready to starting pursuing if someone like Jalen Milroe decides to enter the transfer portal.

Colorado

Deion Sanders and Colorado have made some progress the last two days with adding some talent to its roster, specifically its defense. In the last two days, the Buffaloes have secured commitments from former Florida State EDGE Derrick McLendon, ex-Florida State linebacker and safety Brendan Gant and former Tennessee defensive lineman Amari McNeill. McLendon was a starter for FSU last season and posted 37 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Gant had 112 total tackles the last four seasons for the Seminoles. Adding McNeill, meanwhile, provides a lift to a group that’s currently one of the Buffaloes’ top concerns, the defensive line. The offensive line is another top concern.

Colorado offensive line transfer Jake Wiley

Of the 41 Colorado scholarship players to enter the portal in the last 12 days, it looks like there may be very few that end up transferring to Power Five programs. Wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig is one that will. Wiley, who made 22 career starts for Colorado, is likely one of the others. Since popping up in the portal Wednesday, Wiley has already received offers from programs such as UCLA and Purdue.

James Madison EDGE transfer Isaac Ukwu

There was an immediate buzz this week among college football personnel staffers and coaches after they started to take a look at Ukwu, who went into the portal Tuesday. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Ukwu was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection last season, posting 40 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He’s become the top uncommitted defensive player in the portal, according to one Power Five personnel director. Ole Miss, Auburn and Missouri among his early offers. “Probably the best thing he can do is rush the passer,” a personnel staffer told On3. “He can get paid a lot of money to do that at the next level (in the NFL).”Based on his play at James Madison, Ukwu is already on the radar for NFL scouts as a 2024 NFL draft prospect somewhere in the mid-Day 3 type range.

TCU wide receiver transfer Jordan Hudson

As On3 reported previously, SMU is the clear favorite to land Hudson. It would be a surprise at this point if Hudson, a Class of 2022 top recruit and one-time SMU commit, ended up anywhere aside from SMU. Hudson had 14 catches and three touchdowns for TCU last season.