By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The college football spring transfer portal window closed April 25^th. Let’s take a look at the top transfer portal recruiting classes going into the summer.

#1 LSU: The Tigers are bringing in 18 players. They have 12 four-stars and 5 three-star players.

Some of the standout players are: S Tamarcus Cooley (NC State), DL Bernard Gooden (USF), S A.J. Haulcy (Houston), Edge Patrick Payton (Florida State), TE Donovan Green (Texas A&M), DL Sydir Mitchell (Texas), CB Mansoor Delane (Virginia Tech), Jack Pyburn (Florida), IOL Braelin Moore (Virginia Tech), WR Destyn Hill (Florida State), WR Nic Anderson (Oklahoma), WR Barion Brown (Kentucky), IOL Josh Thompson (Northwestern) and Edge Jimari Butler (Nebraska).

I expect LSU to be a top 10 team in the preseason poll.

#3 Miami: The Hurricanes have 19 commits. Nine of them are four-stars and 9 are three-stars.

The biggest star is QB Carson Beck (Georgia). He’s hoping to follow in Cam Ward’s footsteps because he transferred in from Washington State the year before. He was the top pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Some of the other players are: CB Keionte Scott (Houston), S Jakobe Thomas (Tennessee), LB Mohamed Toure (Rutgers), LB Kamal Bonner (NC State), WR Keelan Marion (BYU), WR Tony Johnson (Cincinnati), TE Alex Bauman (Tulane), IOL James Brockermeyer (TCU), CB Xavier Lucas (Wisconsin), CB Charles Brantley (Michigan State), TE Jack Nickel (UAB), S Zechariah Poyser (Jacksonville State), WR CJ Daniels (LSU) and Ethan O’Connor.

The defense was the Achilles’ heel last season so they added plenty of talent on that side of the ball. I think they will start the season just outside the top 10.

#4 Ole Miss: The Rebels are adding 29 transfer players, making them one of the deepest classes. They have 10 four-stars and 19 three-stars.

They include: QB Maealiuaki Smith (Oklahoma State), OT Terez Davis (Maryland), CB Tavoy Feagin (Clemson), WR Harrison Wallace III (Penn State), WR Traylon Ray (West Virginia), OT Percy Lewis (Auburn), S Kapena Gushiken (Washington State), WR Deuce Alexander (Wake Forest) and IOL Delano Townsend (UAB).

They lost quarterback Jaxson Dart who was a first round pick in the NFL draft. They have enough talent to start the season in the top 20.

#6 Florida State: FSU showed us how badly building a team from the transfer portal can go last year.

They imploded and went 2-10 after being ranked in the top 10 in the preseason. Let’s see if things will be better in 2025. Out of their 23 commits they have 8 four-stars and 15 three-stars.

Some of them are: RB Gavin Sawchuk (Oklahoma), OT Josh Raymond (Vanderbilt), CB Jeremiah Wilson (Houston), S Jarvis Boatwright Jr. (USC), WR Squirrel White (Tennessee), DL Jayson Jenkins (Tennessee) and OT Micah Pettus (Ole Miss).

We will see if the Seminoles can bounce back.

#8 Auburn: The Tigers were 5-7 last season and only won two conference games. They have 19 commits with 6 four-stars and 12 three-stars.

This includes: LB Caleb Wheatland (Maryland), S Taye Seymore (Georgia Tech), TE Preston Howard (Maryland), OT Mason Murphy (USC), CB Raion Strader (Miami OH), WR Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech), OT Xavier Chaplin (Virginia Tech) and QB Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma).

I think they can start the season as a Top 25 team.