Twelve Clemson players entered the transfer portal. Where they landed for 2023

Clemson, like most Power Five football teams, saw a mini-exodus of players following the end of the 2022 season and the opening of the NCAA transfer portal.

The Tigers lost 12 players to the portal after their ACC championship season, which was essentially in line with the 11 players they lost to the portal last cycle. The group included a number of rotational players plus one prominent starter.

With the 2023 season right around the corner, here’s a roundup of where those former Clemson players will be taking snaps this fall. Players are listed in order of when they entered the portal.

LB Sergio Allen, California

Allen, a four-star recruit, could never break into Clemson’s linebacker rotation and appeared in 16 games over three seasons. He entered the portal after playing five defensive snaps in Clemson’s first two games of 2022 and will now play in the Pac-12 with the Golden Bears.

WR Dacari Collins, NC State

Clemson defenders will see a familiar face in Raleigh on Oct. 28. Collins, who’s now going by DJ Collins, transferred within the conference to the Wolfpack after two seasons at Clemson. Collins had three starts and 221 receiving yards as a true freshman but fell out of the rotation early in 2022.

QB Billy Wiles, Southern Miss

After two years as a Clemson backup quarterback, Wiles wanted to find a school where he could compete for the starting job. He found that in the Golden Eagles, who compete in Conference USA. Wiles, a former walk-on, appeared in one game in his Clemson career.

DE Kevin Swint, Georgia State

Swint was one of the more veteran Clemson players to enter the portal; he appeared in 33 career games and had 20 tackles and a fumble recovery in 13 games in 2022. The Georgia native chose to keep things rolling in Atlanta with the Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference.

WR EJ Williams, Indiana

Williams, a top 100 recruit, dazzled as a true freshman with 306 receiving yards on a loaded team that made the College Football Playoff. But he never touched those numbers again with the Tigers and had 70 receiving yards in 13 games in 2022. Now, he’s off to the Big Ten.

QB DJ Uiagalelei, Oregon State

Uiagalelei was Clemson’s highest-profile transfer by a mile. The former Tigers starting quarterback headed back west after a whirlwind three-year career that featured 22 wins but ended with him getting benched for Cade Klubnik in the ACC championship game.

Uiagalelei is battling with two other QBs for Oregon State’s starting job and ruffled some feathers earlier this spring when he critiqued Clemson’s “basic” offensive scheme and aired some frustrations about his time in the Upstate during an interview with The Athletic.

LB LaVonta Bentley, Colorado

Coaches and teammates have been raving about the leadership abilities of Bentley, a veteran of 40 games at Clemson. Bentley, a hard-hitting linebacker, chose to play for Deion Sanders and Colorado after falling out of Clemson’s linebacker rotation midway through the 2022 season.

DB Fred Davis II, UCF

Davis, the nation’s No. 53 recruit out of high school, played in 27 games at Clemson but struggled with inconsistency and also ran into off-field issues. His four career starts came early in the 2022 season before he fell out of the rotation and decided to transfer to his home state.

RB Kobe Pace, Virginia

Pace emerged as Clemson’s clear No. 3 running back behind Will Shipley and Phil Mafah last season. After going for 641 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore, he had 77 yards as a junior and also battled an ankle injury. He’ll now play for former Clemson assistant Tony Elliott.

DL Etinosa Reuben, Georgia Tech

Reuben, like Collins, will suit up against his old team this season as an in-conference transfer. He appeared in 30 games across four seasons for Clemson and had his most productive year in 2021. But he couldn’t break through on what remains a stacked Tigers defensive line.

DB Malcolm Greene, Virginia

Greene flashed some talent and positional versatility at Clemson, though he too was limited by injuries and had off-field issues. After 29 games and five starts across three seasons, the cornerback/nickelback decided to join Elliott and Pace in Charlottesville post-spring ball.

K Liam Boyd, UNC

Boyd, a walk-on, had been competing with Robert Gunn III to replace B.T. Potter as Clemson’s starting kicker. He played well in the spring game, hitting a 51-yard field goal, but his transfer indicates Gunn is Clemson’s guy. Boyd will return to Death Valley with UNC this Nov. 18.