'Phase 2' for IU football: Hoosiers busy in portal, land 8 transfers in 2 days.

Sixteen players signed with IU football in the early signing period. At his Dec. 21 news conference, coach Tom Allen expressed his pleasure with the class and announced that was the end of Phase 1 in this recruiting cycle.

Phase 2, Allen said, was about the transfer portal: hitting it hard and filling as many holes left by roster turnover as possible.

“That's the real focus here to be able to fill some key spots, some positions of need, to be able to balance some of those off,” he said. “It will be across the board both offensively and defensively.”

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A little more than two weeks later, a flurry of transfers on both sides of the ball committed to the Hoosiers, including eight over a two-stretch this weekend.

The process is far from over. Allen has indicated he wants to land another quarterback because a knee injury has Dexter Williams II’s status in limbo. Here’s a look at who the Hoosiers have landed so far:

Max Longman, UMass, OL

Longman is familiar with IU's offense, having played for Hoosiers offensive coordinator Walt Bell when Bell was UMass' head coach. The 6-4, 315-pound offensive tackle from Michigan made 25 starts for the Minutemen and was a team captain.

Jamier Johnson, CB, Texas

IU's secondary depth took a major hit with graduation, draft decisions and outgoing transfers. It's almost starting from scratch.

A 6-0, 175-lbs. sophomore, Johnson played in seven games for the Longhorns, including one start. He finished the season with seven tackles and one pass defended. Coming out of high school, Johnson was a four-start prospect, ranked inside 247Sports' top 300 and had offers from Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and USC.

Andre Carter, DE, Western Michigan

Carter, 6-5 and 263 lbs., is exactly what IU needs on the defensive front: a disrupter who can make plays in the opponent's backfield. Last season, he had 68 tackles, 13.5 for loss, seven sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception on his way to earning second-team All-MAC honors.

Against WMU's biggest 2022 opponents, he produced some his biggest performances. He had a season-high 11 tackles against Pitt and had seven tackles, a sack and tackle for loss against Michigan State.

Christian Turner, RB, Wake Forest

Turner played sparingly as a freshman and sophomore at Michigan before transferring to Wake, where he rushed for 1,022 yards and 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons. He’ll enter a running back room at IU that’s returning Jaylin Lucas and Josh Henderson but losing Shaun Shivers, who led the Hoosiers in carries and yards in 2022.

Turner brings similarities to Shivers, who transferred from Auburn after the 2021 season. Both are short, compact backs who joined the Hoosiers with one year of eligibility remaining, likely to be part of a committee with Lucas and Henderson.

E.J. Williams, WR, Clemson

A four-star prospect and top-100 ranked recruit out of high school with offers from Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama, Williams spent three seasons at Clemson, where he played in 33 games, including six starts. He caught 40 passes for 442 yards and two touchdowns.

He’ll join an Indiana wide receiver corps that remains mostly intact from 2022. Cam Camper — albeit returning from an ACL injury — Emery Simmons, Donaven McCulley and Andison Coby are all returning. Listed at 6-3, 190 pounds, Williams has the skill set to stretch the field and catch jump balls, even as the question of who will be throwing to him remains unanswered for the time being.

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Nicolas Toomer, CB, Stanford

Cornerback was a clear need for IU entering the offseason. Jaylin Williams exhausted his eligibility in 2022, and former All-American Tiawan Mullen announced plans to forgo his final year and enter the NFL draft. Safety Devon Matthews also departed, leaving the Hoosiers with a significantly different secondary to begin 2023.

Toomer spent four seasons on the roster at Stanford, playing in the final two. In 2021 and 2022, he appeared in 20 games, where he made 29 total tackles and defended five passes. Indiana offered him as a high school prospect at Sandy Creek High School in Georgia, and he took two visits to Bloomington, according to 247Sports. Nearly five years later, he joins the program.

Dequece Carter, WR, Fordham

Carter is the most accomplished of the Hoosiers’ recent commits. In four years at Fordham, he had 176 receptions for 3,035 yards and 31 touchdowns. He started 38 games and was all-Patriot League as a junior and senior.

He’s among the top 10 in Fordham history in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns despite playing only three games in the pandemic-affected 2020 season. He has one season of eligibility remaining. According to his social media, he also held offers from Tulane, UConn, James Madison and Old Dominion.

Lanell Carr, OLB/DE, West Virginia

Carr can provide some badly needed pass-rushing help. Dasan McCullough left for Oklahoma after a productive freshman season with the Hoosiers. Tied with McCullough for most sacks on the team with four was Alfred Bryant, who is out of eligibility. Carr was primarily an edge rusher for the Mountaineers. In 2022, he had 21 total tackles, 4.5 for loss and a sack.

In high school, he had an offer from IU, ultimately committing to West Virginia over Arkansas, Kansas State and Louisville among others.

Jacob Mangum-Farrar, LB, Stanford

A 6-4, 235 lbs. inside linebacker from Sugar Land, Texas, Mangum-Farrar has one year left of eligibility. He had 44 tackles, 1.5 for loss and a forced fumble this past season for the Cardinal. He'll provide experience for a unit that loses captain Cam Jones (to the NFL).

Philip Blidi, DL, Texas Tech

Blidi, a 6-3, 295-lbs defensive lineman from New Mexico, has two years of eligibility remaining. This past season, Blidi totaled 18 tackles and two sacks for the Red Raiders.

Blidi received offers from West Virginia, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, N.C. State and Arizona once he hit the portal.

Marcus Burris Jr., DL, Texas A&M

After redshirting in 2021, Burris saw action in eight games in his freshman season this past year, but played sparingly, with just one tackle. Now listed at 6-4, 290 lbs., Burris was a four-star prospect out of Texarkana, Texas despite missing his senior year with injury. He earned all-state honors for Texas 4A D-II state champs Pleasant Grove as a junior, with 20 tackles for loss and 13 sacks that season.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football transfer portal: Hoosiers land eight transfers in two days