Five impressive 2024 transfer portal classes that have flown under the radar

So, barring some unforeseen graduate transfer moves, the transfer portal classes for the fall are set. 

Plenty has been written about the transfer hauls by Ole Miss, Ohio State, Florida State, Texas, Oregon and Miami. Once again, Deion Sanders flipped Colorado’s roster again, while Jeff Brohm went heavy on portal newcomers at Louisville this offseason, too. 

But what about what’s happening elsewhere? Which other schools quietly cleaned up this offseason? 

Here are five impressive transfer portal classes — all ranked in the Top 25 — you don’t know about:

NC State

The Wolfpack were busy this offseason, bringing in a host of ‘dogs they believe position them to truly compete for a ACC Championship this fall. NC State upgraded at quarterback (Grayson McCall), tailback (Jordan Waters and Hollywood Smothers) and tight end (UCONN’s Justin Joly), while adding Ohio State wideout Noah Rogers and Wesley Grimes to a receiver room that already includes All-ACC wideout KC Concepcion. 

Rogers is a former Top-25 prospect who is returning to his home state of North Carolina, while Waters led Duke with 819 yards and 12 touchdowns last season and should boost a NC State ground game that was stuck in the mud most of last season (4.3 yards per carry). 

Dave Doeren made sure not to ignore some defensive additions, too, shoring up the secondary with Ohio State safety/nickel Ja’Had Carter, Maryland defensive backs Tamarcus Cooley and corner Corey Coley Jr. and Auburn safety Donovan Kaufman. In total, NC State landed 14 transfer newcomers — most of whom project to fill a role in the two-deep in 2024. 

Syracuse

The Orange’s transfer portal haul quietly ranks No. 9 nationally, per On3 — behind Louisville (No. 2), Florida State (No. 4) and the aforementioned NC State (No. 7) in the ACC. First-year head coach Fran Brown wasted little time addressing Syracuse’s holes up and down the roster, starting with the addition of former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord. 

McCord couldn’t quite live up to expectations in Columbus, but he still threw for over 3,100 yards and had 24 touchdown while averaging 9.1 per attempt. Syracuse surrounded McCord with the likes of Colorado State wideout Justus Ross-Simmons, Georgia wideouts Jackson Meeks and Yazeed Haynes and a trio of offensive linemen. 

Defensively, Brown parlayed his experience at Georgia (as well as DC Elijah Robinson’s time at Texas A&M) by landing several former blue-chip SEC linemen — tackle Isaiah Hastings (Alabama) and EDGE Fadil Diggs (Texas A&M) are both former 4-star recruits with high ceilings. The same goes for former UGA corner Marcus Washington, who was recruited by Brown to Georgia, and LSU corner Darius Chestnut, who was a Freshman All-American at Syracuse in 2021 but his career stalled in two seasons in Baton Rouge. 

With a rather cupcake schedule and 18 roster additions from the portal, the ‘Cuse have a legitimate shot at winning seven or eight games if McCord & Co., hit. 

South Carolina

The Gamecocks suffered some serious attrition this offseason (27 departures with headliners including wideout Juice Wells (Ole Miss), safety Keenan Nelson Jr. (Ohio State), linebacker Pup Howard (Florida) and defensive lineman Xzavier McLeod (Georgia), but Shane Beamer and his staff deserves credit for doing their best to stop the bleeding with a really a nice crop of transfers that rank No. 10 nationally, per On3.

Former Arkansas tailback Rocket Sanders could be a gem addition if he regains his 2022 form (1,443 yards, 10 touchdowns), while wideouts Vandrevius Jacobs (FSU), Gage Larvadain (Miami OH), Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina), Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (Louisville) and Dalevon Campbell combined for 154 catches and 17 touchdowns last season. 

South Carolina was ravaged by OL injuries in 2023 and its pass rush struggled to get home (SEC-worst 21 sacks, No. 13th pass defense), so the Gamecocks attempted to beef up their offensive line depth (a trio of additions with Oklahoma’s Aaryn Parks the standout signee) and ink multiple edge rushers (three in total with Georgia Tech’s Kyle Kennard, who had six sacks, the best of the bunch).

In all, the ‘Cocks added 22 transfers (third-most in the SEC), hoping a snow-globe shakeup of the roster will help the program rebound from last year’s 5-7 season and return to bowl eligibility.

Indiana 

Outside of Louisville and Colorado, no program has tried a more aggressive about-face than Indiana this offseason — and new head coach Curt Cignetti made sure his team’s facelift best positions the Hoosiers to avoid the basement of the Big Ten for the second-straight year.

IU saw 38 players exit the team and 31 transfer newcomers (many with experience and production) join the roster. When you account for high school signees as well, nearly 50% of the team’s roster will be brand new in 2024. 

Cignetti brought 13 former James Madison players or signees with him to Bloomington (including Freshman All-American corner D’Angelo Ponds and wideout Elijah Sarratt), while nabbing Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke and Texas Tech wideout Myles Price. 

When healthy, Rourke was among the most productive QBs in the MAC, while Cignetti also overhauled the entire running back room and added likely starters in offensive tackle Trey Wedig and tight end Zach Horton. 

The Hooiers ranked last in the Big Ten in yards per play allowed and 13th in scoring, so impact signees like Ponds, Kent State tackle CJ West, Michigan State end Andrew Depaepe, JMU edge rusher Mikail Kamara and JMU linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker and Ole Dominon defensive backs Terry Jones Jr. and Shawn Asbury (both All-Sun Belt performers) should all find immediate starting roles come the fall. 

With as many as 20 of the 31 transfers projected to start next season, Cignetti has expressed supreme confidence that the Hoosiers have solidified the roster to be competitive immediately in Year 1. In the Big Ten, that’s a tall task, but maybe?

Cal

Are we sensing a theme here with ACC teams?

The Bears pieced together a transfer portal class (ranked No. 16 nationally) that merits attention as the program makes their transition to a new league. Justin Wilcox is looking to capitalize on last year’s bowl team, surrounding star tailback Jaydn Ott with a lot more help. Cal suffered some attrition this year as well (the most notable loss being top wideout Jeremiah Hunter leaving for Washington), but on the aggregate, the Bears came out ahead with their 24 newcomers. 

North Texas quarterback Chandler Rogers (3,330 yards with 33 total touchdowns to just five picks) is in an open competition with incumbent Fernando Mendoza for the QB1 job — and both flourished in the battle this spring. The Bears brought in Old Dominion’s leading rusher Kadarius Calloway (a former Alabama signee who averaged 7.1 yards per carry in 2023) to share some snaps with Ott, while Utah’s Mikey Matthews and Notre Dame’s Tobias Merriweather give the receiver room some much-needed firepower. They also plucked Maryland’s top tight end Corey Dyches (49 receptions).

If ex-Ohio State wideout Kyion Grayes, a former fringe Top-100 recruit, can hit as well, Cal could have a sneak dynamite offense in 2024. Defensively, Cal brought in Power 5 depth chart pieces from LSU, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Missouri. 

Honorable Mention: Auburn, Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky, UCF