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How has Gophers football fared in transfer portal compared to Big Ten West foes?

andy greder, pioneer press
·4 min read
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They came one after the other. Five Gophers football players announced their intentions to leave the program across five straight days after Minnesota beat Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe in the regular-season finale on Nov. 26.

Then after a few days with no movement, defensive back Michael Dixon, a key piece in the team’s plans for 2023, said Dec. 4 he was out, too, and on Dec. 7, veteran linebacker Braelen Oliver added he was done at the U as well. All told, Minnesota has had seven players exit since the NCAA transfer portal opened.

Meanwhile, the Gophers have added two transfers via the portal for a net loss of five players.

Compared to its Big Ten West competition as of Friday morning, Minnesota has had the third-fewest amount of departures behind Illinois (minus-1) and Purdue (minus-3). Iowa is at minus-7, Wisconsin and Northwestern are minus-8 and Nebraska is last at minus-12.

“Fans in college football, especially in Minnesota, need to wrap our heads around it a little bit: The game has changed. Recruiting has changed. Transferring has changed,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said on Dec. 4. “Transfer used to be, ‘Oh, what’s wrong?’ That just happens (now). A guy gets told something else, wants to go somewhere else because of the guys in front of him. I get that. That is why there is a transfer portal.”

With new NCAA limits in place, the portal will remain open until Jan. 18, followed by a 15-day opening May 1-15, but the pace of exits has slowed from the initial rush after the regular season ended. Another group of defections might come after the bowl season.

Syracuse, the Gophers’ opponent in the Pinstripe Bowl, has had nine total departures, including four from its depth chart, with defensive backs Duce Chestnut and Ja’Had Carter being the biggest losses.

Meanwhile, the number of college players pledging to new teams for 2023 has begun to increase, with the early-signing period starting Wednesday. The U has added two from Western Michigan — receiver Corey Crooms Jr. and linebacker Ryan Selig.

“We’ve benefited off the transfer portal,” Fleck said Dec. 4. “We’ve got guys who have made a ton of plays for us this year that were from the transfer portal. Thank goodness we have the transfer portal.”

Minnesota, and everyone else, is still looking for additions via the portal to round out recruiting classes made up primarily of high school prospects. The Gophers have 17 high school players committed in the 2023 class, and with a change in NCAA rules, programs are no longer capped at only adding 25 newcomers but are still capped at 85 scholarships. With Crooms and Selig, the U has 19 total.

The Gophers will have a handful of prospects on campus this weekend, including Charlotte transfer Elijah Stevens, a 6-foot-1 split receiver who had 85 receptions for 1,324 yards, 15 touchdowns across two seasons. He was the Conference USA freshman of the year in 2021.

Minnesota has continued put an emphasis on additions at wideout. That has remained evident since Wisconsin transfer Markus Allen backed out of his commitment to the U to return to the Badgers on Dec. 7 and after Crooms committed last week.

This weekend, Minnesota will welcome Southeastern Louisiana transfer Jack Henderson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound slot cornerback who was first-team all-Southland Conference. Henderson had a team-high 90 tackles, seven for lost yards, two sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

The pursuit of Henderson looks like a direct correlation to losing Dixon in the transfer portal.

“You’ve got to look at it as half full, which we always do,” Fleck said on the assessment of the portal. “We know that there is going to be that type of attrition for all the right reasons.”

With the portal remaining open until Jan. 18, the U and other programs’ work in this space won’t conclude with the early-signing period next week. Last year, Minnesota added seven total transfers, with five committing from January to April.

The intra-Big Ten transfer portal movement has benefited Iowa the most, adding Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara and Wolverines tight end Eric All.

The Gophers have been recruiting Iowa transfer cornerback Terry Roberts, though Penn State seems like a favorite for Roberts, while outgoing U transfer defensive end Austin Booker has visited his home-state Indiana Hoosiers.

Gophers defensive tackle Gage Keys has been courted by Virginia Tech and others, while offensive lineman Cameron James has not been receiving the same level of interest from Power Five conference schools.

Cornerback Steven Ortiz Jr., came to Minnesota billed as a four-star recruit, but he played in only one game at the U. Fellow DB Jalen Glaze played in 27 games for Minnesota since 2020 but also has said goodbye. It’s unclear where they might end up next.

So, not all transfers are created equal, and on the whole, the U has had an average amount compared to its Big Ten West competitors since the portal opened two weeks ago.

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