Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda addresses reason for entering the transfer portal, returning

When his name popped up in the transfer portal in October of 2022 amid Nebraska’s unraveling season, it was a reasonable assumption that wideout Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda was as good as gone. But six months later, he was speaking with reporters in Lincoln, explaining his decision to withdraw from the portal.

Garcia-Castaneda doesn’t regret doing what he did and entering the portal, but he’s glad he’s staying in Lincoln, ultimately. While it might’ve been in his best interests to open up the door to other opportunities, he never did want to leave.

“I never wanted to leave, really, in the first place. I didn’t expect last year to go the way it did, necessarily,” Garcia-Castaneda said. “So I just felt like it’s almost like a fresh start for me, for everybody. For the team — coaches, players. And I was fortunate enough to be able to get an opportunity again and come just show what I can do with the new staff and everything.”

After starting his college career at a junior college, Garcia-Castaneda played two seasons at New Mexico State — though one season was just two games in the spring of 2021 due to Covid-19. As a sophomore, he appeared in 10 games and caught 37 passes for 578 yards and four touchdowns.

Ahead of the 2022 season, he transferred again and landed at Nebraska. He burst out of the gates for the Cornhuskers, reeling in four receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown in the opener against Northwestern. Then he went two games without a touch and had one catch for no yards against Oklahoma, a blowout loss for Nebraska.

A few weeks later, he was in the transfer portal.

Garcia-Castaneda doesn’t think he had any other choice but to enter the transfer portal then, but that it was the best thing to do for himself and his football career.

“I think last year was — I don’t really like to talk about it too much. I think last year was last year. A lot of things were kind of all over the place in every aspect of the team. So I just think it was, at the time, in my best interests. I’m not mad at myself for deciding to enter the portal when I did because I felt at that time it was the best thing for me,” Garcia-Castaneda said. “But, with things now, I’m very thankful to be here again and I think everything kind of happened for a reason. And things are supposed to be how they’re supposed to be.”