The NCAA transfer portal officially opened on Dec. 4 and as expected it’s been chaotic for just about every program in the country — including Pitt.
When taking a look at Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers, although the Panthers had several transfers, they’ve done an excellent job of holding onto priority players.
In the first nine days of Portalmania, the only major loss that Pitt suffered was redshirt freshman defensive end Samuel Okunlola. The former four-star recruit was expected to be a huge part of Pitt’s 2024 defensive unit. Not surprisingly, Okunlola is drawing a ton of national interest and will have his pick of schools.
With the arrival of college free agency and the portal, the reality is that schools and their NIL teams will have to prioritize players and hope they have the funds to keep them. Pitt’s NIL team, Alliance 412, has come up big as the Panthers have been able to hold onto players such as Rodney Hammond Jr. Gavin Bartholomew, Kenny Johnson, Solomon DeShields, Dayon Hayes, Jordan Bass, Ryan Baer and Branson Taylor.
No school in the country is going to be able to keep everyone, but to this point, Pitt has done better than most.
Along with trying to hold onto their own players, it’s been a busy week for Pitt in terms of extending offers to transfers, hosting them and landing its first commitment.
In order to get you caught up, here’s a recap of Pitt transfer portal news from last week:
Pitt OffersÂ
Running Backs (1):
Desmond Reid from Western Carolina.
Wide Receivers (10):
Miles Cross from Ohio University.
CJ Lee from Western Carolina.
Abdur-Rahmaan from Purdue.
Marlyn Johnson from Buffalo.
Tyrell Henry from Michigan State.
TJ Sheffield from Purdue.
Diante Vines from Iowa.
Trell Harris from Kent State.
Robert Lewis from Georgia State.
Dymere Miller from Monmouth.
Tight Ends (3):
Johncarlos Miller from Elon.
Jake Overman from Oregon State.
Rico Walker from Maryland.
Offensive Lineman (3):
Mak Pounders from Memphis.
Jacob Rizy from Harvard.
Easton Kilty from North Dakota State.
Defensive Lineman (2):
David Ojiegbe from Clemson.
Mikail Kamara from James Madison.
Linebackers (2):
Keye Thompson from Ohio University.
Alex Howard from Youngstown State.
Defensive Backs (4):
Devon Marshall from Villanova.
Trkweze Bridges from Oregon.
Ethan Robinson from Bucknell.
Tamon Lynum from Nebraska. (Committed to Pitt).
Long Snapper (1):
Nilay Upadhyuyul from Connecticut. (Committed to Pitt).
RETURNING TO PITT:
The other headline this week was the decision of both Nate Temple and Brandon George to withdraw their names from the transfer portal and return to Pitt. Maybe the market for them wasn’t what they expected or with some of the other departures, both players saw an increased opportunity to be on the field. Whatever the reason, Randy Bates will be getting back two experienced players.
WHAT’S AHEAD:
Look for this weekend to be a busy one for Pitt as far as possibly picking up some transfer commitments. The Panthers staff will be hosting a number of players this weekend on official visits. Pittsburgh Sports Now has already confirmed a handful of visits and anticipates learning more over the next 48 hours.
