AAC Transfer Portal Tracker

[tjtlja]

By my count we are at 91 scholarships for next year. We will probably add 2-4 more players. At most, I see 10 current players that will not be on the team next year. Wonder who will be moving on.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Thanks to those above who mentioned transfer news. It takes some time to go through each team and update the list which is why I only do it every other week or so. Sheet is updated as of today.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1142386654

North Texas finally had some transfers out. There were a few from other teams with others in the portal finding homes. On the transfer in side, us and Temple got on the board while most others added a player or two. Charlotte added five players since the last update. The most notable addition was probably JT Daniels to Rice, which despite his flaws is a nice get for them. SMU also added a former 4 star RB from TAMU LJ Johnson (cue Pete downplaying their transfer class ).

[tulaneoutlaw]

Of course. I update the tracker and big news hits. Tanner Mordecai has entered the portal. I believe there will be a decent market for his services as there are very few qbs available that have his production.

[PeteRasche]

Of course. I update the tracker and big news hits. Tanner Mordecai has entered the portal. I believe there will be a decent market for his services as there are very few qbs available that have his production.

I can't wait for SMU to bring in another P5 transfer QB and get picked to tear up the AAC and then finish like 4th or 5th. Again.

[Sophandros]

Of course. I update the tracker and big news hits. Tanner Mordecai has entered the portal. I believe there will be a decent market for his services as there are very few qbs available that have his production.

He's going to Wisconsin.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Of course. I update the tracker and big news hits. Tanner Mordecai has entered the portal. I believe there will be a decent market for his services as there are very few qbs available that have his production.

He's going to Wisconsin.

Yep, I just updated the spreadsheet accordingly. That's their second QB transfer after OUs backup. This move is significant to me. SMU is well known to have a solid NIL program. Other G5s were able to keep their sought-after starter another year (UTSA and Harris, TU and Pratt, WKU and Reed), ostensibly by ponying up (pun intended) to keep them home. Two scenarios:

a)It is possible that SMU is ready to move on from Mordecai because they think they have the guy (likely Preston Stone) of the future who has more eligibility. Mordecai was generally very good for them. He's third all time in career passing at SMU and would easily take over the lead spot with one more season.

b) Wisconsin is choosing to lean heavily into NIL using their big booster base and deep pockets. They were able to lure Mordecai away with big money to give them a jumpstart while they try to improve the offensive side of the ball. Mordecai may have been Fickell's top choice since he's familiar with him from Cinci. Interestingly Cinci has a relatively poor NIL program which is why some feel Satterfield moving from Louisville (NIL rich) to Cinci is a downgrade. If Wisconsin was able to secure Fickell by promising a strong NIL game, this is the first fruits of that effort. It's something Wisconsin needs to do because they've slipped off their perch atop the B10 West and will find the road to success much harder once the B10 does away with divisions and adds the CA teams.

[GreenWave80]

Memphis losing four more to the portal:

LB Jared Nedd
WR Cameron Wright
DL CamRon Jackson
WR Javon Ivory

Also

USF WR Xavier Weaver

[long green]

Memphis also lost their good TE.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Memphis also lost their good TE.

That's Prieskorn. The silverfield hire looks worse by the day

[tjtlja]

How many do we lose to the portal? Right now we are over 90 scholarships and continue to offer players. It will be interesting to see how we get to 85.

[long green]

There are still two kinds of attrition. The kind you mind and the kind you don’t.

[waverider]

USF RB Brian Battie has entered the portal following Bulls’ OL Dustin Hall and WR Xavier Weaver as other recent portal entrants.

[ForeverTU]

Not sure if this one made the tracker yet but Carlos Hatcher announced he’s in the portal as a grad transfer. Probably the first at least semi-important potential piece to head out but honestly not surprising with the DL adds we have coming in.

[PeteRasche]

Not sure if this one made the tracker yet but Carlos Hatcher announced he’s in the portal as a grad transfer. Probably the first at least semi-important potential piece to head out but honestly not surprising with the DL adds we have coming in.

I gave it its own thread but this place is so busy it's already about to fall off page one!

[long green]

It’s been a while since we’ve had this much chatter. We’re talking Cotton Bowl at the bottom of Page 2. Nope, it goes back further. And that’s just this small community.

[PeteRasche]

It’s been a while since we’ve had this much chatter. We’re talking Cotton Bowl at the bottom of Page 2. Nope, it goes back further. And that’s just this small community.

'Tis a wonderful time.

And for the most part, little arguing!

[ml wave]

It’s been a while since we’ve had this much chatter. We’re talking Cotton Bowl at the bottom of Page 2. Nope, it goes back further. And that’s just this small community.

'Tis a wonderful time.

And for the most part, little arguing!

I beg to differ!

[tulaneoutlaw]

Spreadsheet updated with all the changes to date. Of note:

• So far, a much higher percentage of players leaving the AAC are finding homes in the P5. Last year the number was about 10%, this year it's over 20%. Meanwhile the percentage of transfers into the AAC from the P5s is roughly level, 68% a year ago and 65% so far this year.

• ECU is taking the close to home approach for transfers in; 5/8 so far are from NC schools and the rest are from Georgia or South Carolina.

• Memphis had a bunch of portal entries post bowl. Most impactful were their stud TE Caden Prieskorn heading to Ole Miss and DL CamRon Jackson heading to Florida.

• SMU continues to stockpile talent on paper. They added a TAMU player and two more Liberty players. They now have 13 transfers in, 9 from P5s.

• Schools with coaching changes, like Tulsa and USF, have managed to pull back a few guys who initially entered the portal.

Next update will be after the portal closes in a few days.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1142386654

[tjtlja]

Outlaw, thank you for the updates.

[PeteRasche]

Good stuff outlaw. Couple of things caught my attention:

- Prieskorn joins the list of guys that played against Tulane on a team one year then play against us again the next year but with a different team. Coincidentally, two I can think of had Ole Miss as one of the schools (Plumlee and now Prieskorn).

- SMU getting a boatload of P5 guys in... what else is new? Call me when it translates to success.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Good stuff outlaw. Couple of things caught my attention:

- Prieskorn joins the list of guys that played against Tulane on a team one year then play against us again the next year but with a different team. Coincidentally, two I can think of had Ole Miss as one of the schools (Plumlee and now Prieskorn).

- SMU getting a boatload of P5 guys in... what else is new? Call me when it translates to success.

The prepositional phrase "on paper" was inserted for SMU with you in mind . I'd rather have talent than not, but if that's all it took Texas A&M would have a title in the last couple of years.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Tracker updated to reflect the changes with the portal now closed. I probably won't do another update until it opens again in May. Of note:

• There were over 1500 players that entered the portal this cycle. 137 are from 2023 AAC schools. Roughly 45% don't have homes so far.

• Last year around 11% of transfers out were to P5s. So far this year, that number has almost doubled to 21%. Transfers in have stayed steady with 68% coming from P5s last year and 66% coming from P5s so far this year.

• ECU had a flurry of late entries, although of the 6 new names, only 1 has a home (TCU).

• Memphis has lost a lot to the portal, but since last update they've added 4 new names including former 4 star RB Hargrove from Miss. St.

• North Texas added 4 new players, including two from Texas Tech

• SMU lost four and added four. The four they added are all from P5s, including Alex Padilla from Iowa (who is not very good). SMU is taking the shots on goal approach to the portal. They've brought 17 guys in, most in the AAC, 13 from P5s and none from outside FBS. This SMU update brought to you by Pete's Skepticism Corp.

• Temple continues to undergo transformation. Like ECU, they lost a late flurry of 7 players, many of whom had 3 star talent ratings. They are up to 22 transfers and have brought in just 7 new players.

• USF seems to have stabilized somewhat. They lost two more names to the portal, but added a RB from Florida and a 4-star DE from Texas.

[speckled trout]

Good stuff outlaw. Couple of things caught my attention:

- Prieskorn joins the list of guys that played against Tulane on a team one year then play against us again the next year but with a different team. Coincidentally, two I can think of had Ole Miss as one of the schools (Plumlee and now Prieskorn).

- SMU getting a boatload of P5 guys in... what else is new? Call me when it translates to success.

I can think of another one. Tahj Washington (WR) USC.

Lost to Tulane his freshman season with Memphis. Then transferred to USC and lost to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl

[tulaneoutlaw]

Figured it was time to update the portal one more time before the May window. Spring practices are going on or in some cases already concluded so there will be movement. In the meantime, this update catches up anything going on since the last window. Of note:

• Several kickers either left or found homes in the AAC.

• Only a few new names from the AAC hit the portal. Several more found homes, though over a third from the AAC still have no home.

• I think ECU might be on track to be very bad this year. They lost a ton and their transfers in are mostly uninspiring from either lower G5 leagues or below.

• Memphis added four players, three from the SEC including a promising OT from Arkansas.

• North Texas got Austin Aune, their 29-yo starting QB back. Not sure if that was an NIL move similar to UTSA or if a lack of other offers kept him home. He's also married with at least one kid so maybe that factored in.

• Temple lost two players and added three. That's another group that seems in for a long rebuild.

• I believe Tulane is finally up to date with the additions of Brown and Sam that we knew about. Carlos Hatcher landed at Coastal, but most of our other former players still lack landing spots.

• UTSA has done nothing since the last update and very little overall. They've lost six total players and added four. I'm wondering if they spent what NIL they had to keep Frank Harris and that's limited their ability to bring in more guys. Then again, they have a solid culture so maybe like us they are picky.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1549886729

[PeteRasche]

I think ECU might be on track to be very bad this year. They lost a ton and their transfers in are mostly uninspiring from either lower G5 leagues or below.

Funny, that's one of the two AAC teams that some very-early-prediction site had us losing to next year. Hmmm, almost like they didn't do research (or maybe they just assumed Holton Ahlers would stay there for life, since it had seemed that way. )

North Texas got Austin Aune, their 29-yo starting QB back.

29...


Thanks for the work, outlaw. Always interesting stuff.