A former coaching colleague of mine went on to coach at an Ivy League school. I had the opportunity to get to know the coaching staff and become familiar with the program. I can assure you with 99.9% certainty that any athlete the Ivies want won't have to say no because they can't afford it. The schools are dripping with money and concluding that a recruit has a "need" is routine for these guys.

https://x.com/b_mc18/status/1746305911658823937?s=46&t=CN...
Another one and done but in a much needed department. DE

Another one.

CJ Doggette Jr from Cincinnati. Listed as a DE. Three years of eligiblity left. Played HS ball at Pickerington Central

https://twitter.com/dawggette/status/1746595455260049766/...
https://twitter.com/dawggette/status/1746595381956292994/...
https://gobearcats.com/sports/football/roster/cj--doggett...
https://247sports.com/Player/cj-doggette-46098539/high-sc... /

I'm counting 11 transfers in so far.

P5--> 2
G5 --> 2
FCS --> 5
D-II --> 1
JUCO --> 1

Gunnar Gundy - QB - Oklahoma State
Trent Allen - OL - Davenport University
Tigana Cisse - OL - University of Idaho
Jake Bruno - TE - St Francis University
Max Rodarte - WR - City College of San Francisco
Charles Ross - WR - San Jose State

Blake Leake - LB - Bucknell
Dustin Johnson - DB - Northern Colorado
Jacob Proche - CB - Coastal Carolina
Ben McNaboe - DE - North Dakota
CJ Doggette - DE/DT - Cincinnati

I wasn't including JUCOs, but I agree, JUCO is another way to replace the players that left via the portal. Even then, the numbers are changing as we speak, with another addition, a LS from Charlotte.

The list of outstanding offers is interesting, especially when you compare outgoing portal players to incoming ones on a position by position basis:
QB - 1 out, 1 in
RB - 4 out, 0 in
WR - 4 out, 1 in, 2 remaining offers
TE - 3 out, 1 in
OL - 1 out, 2 in
DE - 1 out, 2 in, 2 remaining offers
LB - 2 out, 1 in
S - 1 out, 1 in, 1 remaining offer
CB - 1 out, 1 in
LS - 0 out, 1 in

In some cases, Ohio has taken in more players than they have lost (OL, DE). At the other extreme, there are several positions where Ohio has lost a lot of players, and doesn't seem to be adding more, notably RB and TE. At WR, they have lost more than they have taken in, but are still trying to add more. At TE they do have a couple of Freshmen coming in, Segarra and AJ Miller, so maybe they are confident with those, but at RB there is only one Freshman, Brune.

Edit- I Tried to update the above with graduations and incoming Freshmen, and I get:
QB - net 0: 1 out portal, 1 in portal
RB - net -3: 4 out portal, none in portal, no grad, 1 in freshman
WR - net 0: 4 out portal, 1 in portal 1 grad, 1 JUCO, 3 Freshmen
TE - net 0: 3 out portal, 1 in portal, no grad, 2 freshmen
OL - net +2: 1 out portal, 2 in portal, 2 grad, 3 freshmen
DE - net 0: 1 out portal, 2 in portal, 3 grad, 2 freshmen
DT - net -1: 1 grad
LB - net +1: 2 out portal, 1 in portal, 1 grad, 3 freshmen
S - net +2: 1 out portal, 1 in portal, 1 grad, 3 freshmen
CB - net -1: 1 out portal, 1 in portal, 1 grad, no freshmen
LS - net 0: 0 out portal, 1 in portal, 1 grad
P - net -1: 1 grad

Most of the positions seem to be in balance, though some, like WR, OL, TE, and LB will be a lot younger. The three places that I would welcome more from the portal (or additional JUCOs) are RB, DT, and CB.

A LONG SNAPPER?

Teams can't even keep a long snapper out of the portal. What a time to be alive.

On3 has Torrie Cox Jr. returning to Ohio.

Brian Metz tweeted this morning there are 12 Four year college transfers, 8 early enrollee freshmen, and 1 two-year college transfer all on campus today. He also added "and maybe a few more!!"

So I think that means we're missing a couple transfers from the count.

I guess I'm confused. Wasn't it suggested here that Albin is not one to welcome back players that entered the portal? Or perhaps it's a case-by-case basis?

I know it's allowable. And I know of instances where football/basketball coaches allowed players to rejoin the team after entering the portal. But I think someone on here suggested Albin is not one to do such a thing.

Ohio now has a whopping 27 transfers on what will be the 2024 roster to the best of my knowledge. I didn't realize the number was so high and I really wouldn't mind seeing Ohio pump the brakes on this. That's the size of an entire recruiting class in itself. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that Ohio doesn't use the transfer portal. It is part of the game now and everyone is doing it in some capacity. I'm just very concerned about the spike in numbers and the message it send to recruiting targets, recent recruits and players already on the roster as Ohio has done a tremendous job with player development over the years. And as recent history has shown, teams that heavily use the portal seeing an increase in players also leaving in the portal. I really like the way Ohio has selectively used it in recent years. I believe that selectivity and player development has gone hand in hand with how Ohio has always been a consistent contender in the MAC. Yes, I know this was the first year that Ohio truly experienced a number of quality players entering the portal. But Ohio is now carefully walking a tight rope with bringing in all these guys to potentially lose more guys on the back end because of it. It's one thing to plug holes with the portal like Ohio used to do. It's another to fill a roster with it like Ohio has done for the first time this year with it.

Here's the list of transfers IN on the current roster that I know of at this point:

QB Gunnar Gundy - Oklahoma State
QB Parker Navarro - UCF
RB Devon Hunter - Ball State
WR Jacoby Jones - JUCO
WR Charles Ross - Nevada/San Jose State
WR Christian Hilton - The Citadel
WR Max Rodarte - JUCO
WR KJ Howard - JUCO
OL Tigana Cisse - Idaho
OL Dane Jackson - North Texas
OL Trent Allen - Rhode Island/Davenport
OL Hark Sohi - Long Island
DL Dontay Hunter - Purdue
DL Chris Mayfield - Michigan State
DL Rayyan Buell - JUCO/Rutgers
DL CJ Doggett - Cincinnati
DL Ben McNaboe - Minnesota/North Dakota
LB Kaci Seegars - Liberty
LB Kadin Schmitz - Navy
LB Blake Leake - Bucknell
DB Adonis Williams - Navy
DB Miles Fleming - Minnesota
DB Jacob Proche - JUCO/Coastal Carolina
DB Dustin Johnson - Colorado/Northern Colorado
DB Tank Pearson - JUCO
P Jared Wheatley - Vanderbilt
LS Colby Garfield - East Carolina

I'm sure it's *always* a case-by-case basis. For every coach.

What you're probably referring to is how UNLIKELY it is for anyone to be welcomed back to the team they tried to transfer away from.

This year has the largest % of players withdrawing from the portal and returning... 3%... last year just 1.8% returned.

of 2K+

I don't think Ohio has an unusual number. Ohio recruited about 17 Freshmen, and only lost about 11 to end of eligibility. Thus, they will add less players from the portal than they lose to the portal.

Yes, Ohio could have skipped the portal, and tried to find another 10 Freshmen before the Feb. signing date, but that would have left Ohio with a very, very young team. Even worse, a couple years later, many of those would transfer out, and following that method, Ohio would have a very young team, not just next year, but every year from now on.

In my opinion, Ohio is handling it about right. They are taking a few extra freshmen, but also adding some players from the portal to fill in experience where needed. All teams are in this boat. It's a new system, and complaining about the rough waters isn't helpful. We need to let the captain steer the boat, and hope he finds a reasonably safe passage.

I actually think the portal will calm down a bit over the next couple of years. First, with everyone having an extra year from Covid, that means 6 years at the same school, more than enough time to graduate, and even do some grad school. People may want to try programs at another institution. Wilburn may be an example of that. Second, with such a wild portal year this year, there are a lot of people in the portal right now who are not getting the offers they expected. It's like a game of musical chairs, and the music is shutting down. People need to find a place to sit before all the chairs are gone. Some, who thought they were going to move up, may end up moving sideways or down. Others may end up left out, and not have any offer at all. If that happens, people next year may be more satisfied with where they are, and less willing to risk the portal unless they are a sure thing, someone with an expectation of good NIL money.