Pete Thamel expects Cormani McClain to land with 'some sort of blue blood'

Cormani McClain, the top corner from last year’s freshman class, plans to leave Colorado in the transfer portal after one season. Now, ahead of his sophomore campaign, ESPN’s Pete Thamel expects several big names to be in play for him in the spring portal cycle.

Thamel predicted where McClain will end up transferring during the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Wednesday. He said that blue bloods will be recruiting him if for no other reason than that he’s a former five-star prospect who still has plenty of potential.

“Yeah, I think, you know, a guy ranked that highly is always going to get another chance,” Thamel said. “If you have five stars? You will have five chances. That’s pretty much how this goes.”

“Look, you get ranked that high off height, weight, speed, right? Sometimes pedigree of school,” said Thamel. “So, because of those things, I think he will end up at some sort of blue blood.”

McClain appeared in nine games for the Buffaloes last fall with four being starts. In that time, he totaled 13 tackles and a pair of pass deflections.

In high school, McClain played at Lakeland in Florida. He was a five-star there as the No. 13 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 1 CB and the No. 3 player out of the state behind only EDGE Keon Keeley (Alabama) and OT Francis Mauigoa (Miami).

McClain originally committed to the Hurricanes in his recruitment. However, he flipped to Deion Sanders and Colorado and signed on to come to Boulder. That made him the top recruit in Coach Prime’s first, No. 35-rated class per On3’s 2023 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings.

Upon his official entry into the portal, McClain will likely be one of the higher rated corners available, especially in the spring window.

Thamel does expect teams to have to do their homework on McClain before possibly adding him going into the summer. Still, even if only based on his quality out of the prep ranks, he fully anticipates to see him land at at a top-notch program for next fall.

“I do think Deion probably flashed a few warning signs that people are going to have to dig in. But, ultimately, that caliber of talent? He will not be moving down,” said Thamel. “Let’s put it that way. He will be moving to a higher end program.”