Big 12 Spotlight: Recruits that may be impacted by recent portal movement
The movement of players during the spring transfer portal window won’t just impact other college football players, but high school prospects as well. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at five recruits that may be impacted by recent portal additions in the Big 12.
Arizona State saw some major defensive back transition since the portal window opened as the Sun Devils took in some transfers that are leaving again as four players in the secondary look to be moving on including Cole Martin, Kamari Wilson and Laterrence Welch.
In-state recruiting has been a challenge for both Arizona programs for at least a decade but the Sun Devils have a real chance here to keep one home.
The four-star cornerback from Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge has a lot of heavy hitters involved in his recruitment including Alabama, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M (which could have the edge) but that’s even more reason for Arizona State to keep him close. It will be a challenge but the Sun Devils are among the favorites.
Kansas has lost two very talented potential stars at defensive end in Deshawn Warner and Bai Jobe to the transfer portal and so keeping Higgins in this class is crucial as he also sees a very big need for his services on the Jayhawks’ defensive front.
The four-star from Wichita (Kan.) Maize South committed to the Jayhawks over Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin so it was a huge win for Kansas. After a couple of tough losses in the portal, locking in Higgins was crucial for production off the edge in the coming years.
So much of what Colorado is going to do in recruiting is through the transfer portal and that means a lot of players will come in and a lot of players will cycle out. That’s just how coach Deion Sanders has decided to run the program and we’ll see how things look now that QB Shedeur Sanders and all-world Travis Hunter, both transfers themselves, are off to the NFL.
Offensive line will need to be addressed. At least five offensive linemen from Colorado have hit the portal which is a perfect opportunity for the Buffaloes to win with some serious talent in-state.
Four-star Kannon Smith has already committed to USC so he might be off the table but Schmitt, from Windsor, Colo., has taken numerous visits to Boulder and seems very interested.
There has been a significant amount of turnover on Oklahoma State’s roster following a disastrous 2024 season as more than 20 players have shipped out and more than the same amount are planning to come to Stillwater.
One of the biggest losses was four-star edge Kendal Daniels, who transferred to Oklahoma, as he was second on the team with 64 tackles and led the Cowboys with 5.5 sacks.
That loss opens up a big opportunity for Stewart, who was Oklahoma State’s first commit in the class but is still being pursued by others. Keeping him to blunt some of the loss by Daniels will definitely be important as Oklahoma State looks to rebuild from its first losing season since Mike Gundy’s inaugural campaign in 2005.
First-year coach Rich Rodriguez is going to build West Virginia back in his image – and that means a massive purge of the roster as by Rivals’ count, 48 players have entered the transfer portal.
Included on that list are five running backs (basically everyone except leading rusher Jahiem White) as CJ Donaldson, who led the Mountaineers with 11 touchdowns last season, is also out of Morgantown.
That opens up a massive opportunity for three-star commit Jett Walker to not only reinforce his commitment but see a major opportunity once he gets to town. After rushing for 2,531 yards and 37 touchdowns in his junior season at Georgetown, Texas, maybe he couldn’t get to Morgantown fast enough.
