Staying in SEC is popular move in transfer portal

On Christmas Eve, the expected became reality when Florida tailback Trevor Etienne finally committed to Georgia. The former four-star recruit from Louisiana is headed to play for a heated rival with two years of eligibility remaining in college football. Etienne’s move is one we’ve seen often in the transfer portal.

SEC players are choosing to stay in the SEC. Kentucky added four conference transfers this week when Raymond Cottrell (Texas A&M), Jamon Dumas-Johnson (Georgia), Jalen Farmer (Florida), and Brock Vandagriff (Georgia) each signed with the Wildcats.

This is a trend that is gaining a ton of steam. Using On3’s top-100 transfer portal rankings, many of the best free agents in the SEC are opting to stay in the SEC.

• Walter Nolen (Texas A&M to Ole Miss)
• Princely Umanmielen (Florida to Ole Miss)
• Trevor Etienne (Florida to Georgia)
• Tyler Baron (Tennessee to Ole Miss)
• Juice Wells (South Carolina to Ole Miss)
• Jamon Dumas-Johnson (Georgia to Kentucky)
• Rocket Sanders (Arkansas to South Carolina)
• LT Overton (Texas A&M to Alabama)
• Brock Vandagriff (Georgia to Kentucky)
• Decamerion Richardson (Mississippi State to Ole Miss)
• Chris Paul Jr. (Arkansas to Ole Miss)
• London Humphreys (Vanderbilt to Georgia)
• Darris Smith (Georgia to Missouri)
• Raymond Cottrell (Texas A&M to Kentucky)

There are still some notable free agents available as Evan Stewart (Texas A&M) and Nyland Green (Georgia) are looking for transfer destinations. However, it is clear that both players and programs believe there is value with staying in the SEC. When the season arrives, preparing for these transfers on new teams might not be very hard due to the familiarity everyone will have with them from previous time spent in the SEC.

With the addition of Oklahoma and Texas arriving in 2024, the SEC will now have 16 teams and will continue to have the most talent in college football. We should expect transfers to want to stay in the conference moving forward.