With the conclusion of the ACC regular season in college football, the opening of the NCAA Transfer Portal is coming soon.

Starting on Dec. 4, college coaches will have the opportunity to speak with players that have entered their name in the portal. This will serve as a stressful period for college teams and a wild couple of months for the sport of college football.

This is the new form of recruiting and is now crucial to every team, almost as much as high school recruiting itself. Pittsburgh Sports Now will start running an ACC Daily Portal Report, that will provide updates on all activity involving programs in the ACC.

ACC PORTAL NEWS / November 29

Duke

Starting quarterback Riley Leonard will leave the program, making him one of the most valuable targets in the transfer portal ahead of next season.

Leonard broke out in 2022, completing 250 passes for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns to six interceptions, earning him All-ACC Honorable Mention. He also ran for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns, demonstrating his ability as a dual-threat quarterback. He struggled this past season, dealing with injuries that only saw him feature in seven games.

Notre Dame is the most likely destination for Leonard, while Auburn also look to acquire his talents. He has one year left of eligibility.

Two more players transferred out of Duke on Wednesday in defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles and defensive back Jaden Watkins. 

Peebles played 47 games over the past four seasons at defensive tackle, making 84 tackles, 26 solo, 13.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, three passes defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He has one year left of eligibility.

Watkins joined the Blue Devils as a wide receiver, but transitioned to defensive back after last season. He only saw action in one game and has three years left of eligibility.

North Carolina

North Carolina landed their new starting quarterback for 2024 in Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson. Johnson spent the past two years down in College State, redshirting in 2022 after suffering an injury after three games and starting in 2023. He started eight games this past season, completing 118 passes for 1,452 yards and nine touchdowns to five interceptions.

He has two years left of eligibility, after spending 2020 and 2021 at LSU, at Chapel Hill, with the medical redshirt and COVID-19 year.

Kicker Ryan Coe, a South Fayette alum, also announced his decision to transfer. Only seeing action in two games for kickoffs, he will try to find his fourth school in six seasons, as he also played at both Cincinnati and Delaware.

Pitt

Pitt saw seven players leave the program, all defensive players, in linebackers Aydin Henningham and Bangally Kamara defensive backs in Buddy Mack III and Stephon Hall and defensive linemen in DeAndre Jules and Nate Temple. Kamara, Mack, Jules and Temple have one year left of eligibility, Henningham has two and Hall has three.

Wake Forest

Wake Forest saw three more players transfer on Wednesday in quarterback Troy Hoilman, defensive lineman Jaylen Hudson and defensive back AJ Williams. 

Hoilman is the third quarterback to transfer from the Demon Deacons this season, along with Mitch Griffis and Santino Marucci. Hoilman never saw the field in his three seasons in Winston-Salem, N.C. and has two years left of eligibility.

Williams played in 48 games over the past five seasons at Wake Forest, making 107 tackles, 64 solo, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and five passes defended. Hudson played in 45 games over his five seasons with the Demon Deacons, making 37 tackles, 21 solo, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. The two have one year left of eligibility remaining.

Boston College

Boston College had two running backs announce their transfer in the past two days in Pat Garwo III and Cam’ron Barfield.

Garwo finished last season with 52 carries for 270 yards and a touchdown. His best season came in 2021, when he had 205 carries for 1,045 yards and seven rushing touchdowns to earn Second Team All-ACC honors. He finished with 440 carries for 1,912 yards and 11 touchdowns in his five seasons with the Eagles. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Barfield played sparingly over the past two seasons for Boston College, with 36 carries for 67 yards and 0 touchdowns. He has three years left of eligibility.

Clemson

Offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes announced his decision to transfer on Wednesday. Mayes made 32 appearances and nine starts over the past four seasons for the Tigers and has two years left of eligibility.

Miami

Wide receiver Frank Ladson Jr. made his transfer portal announcement on Wednesday, ending his two seasons stay with the Hurricanes. He made 27 catches for 298 yards and one touchdown in 2022, making him the fourth leading receiver on the team, but did not record a catch this past season. He spent his first three seasons with Clemson and has one year left of eligibility.

NC State:

Defensive back Jakeen Harris put his name in the transfer portal, looking to leave Raleigh for another program. Harris started at safety to begin 2023, but suffered a season ending injury in the opener. He played in 29 games for the Wolfpack, making 80 tackles, 52 solo, two tackles for loss, three interceptions and eight passes defended. Harris will have one year left of eligibility.

Stanford

Quaterback Ari Patu will transfer from Stanford after three seasons with the program. Patu never started a game for the program, playing in eight games, completing 17 of his 31 passes for 15o yards and three touchdowns to one interception. He has one year left of eligibility.

For all your college football transfer portal needs, check out the Portal Report and their Transfer Portal Tracker.

2023-24 College Football Transfer Portal Database

Previous PSN/ACC Daily Portal Reports

PSN/ACC Daily Portal Report: November 28

PSN/ACC Daily Portal Report: November 27