In what has become a tradition under Deion Sanders during his young stint as Colorado coach, the Buffaloes are enduring a busy day of departures in the transfer portal. The spring transfer window opened Tuesday, and the Buffaloes have already had several players enter with the intention of playing elsewhere.
Former five-star prospect and 247Sports’ No. 1 ranked cornerback in 2023 Cormani McClain plans to enter the portal, he announced Tuesday. McClain represented Sanders’ first major recruiting coup at Colorado in 2023. While McClain wasn’t a major contributor last year for the Buffs, his departure would have a negative impact on the optics of the program moving forward.
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This news comes on the back of a major loss in starting offensive lineman Savion Washington. The 6-foot-8 standout started 10 games at right tackle for the Buffaloes last season and played well despite some struggles across the line of scrimmage.
With Washington hitting the portal, Colorado now has to replace all five of its starting offensive linemen and 114 combined starts from last season’s unit. The Buffaloes did bring in five offensive line transfers during the winter window, and the expectation is that Sanders and his staff will comb the portal for even more depth given the current overhaul.
On the defensive side of the ball, Colorado lost a couple key linemen in Chazz Wallace and Devee Harris, each of whom started a handful of games and played as key reserves last season. Former Top247 safety Myles Slusher, who started in the 2023 season opener against TCU, is leaving as well.
LIVE transfer portal updates: Follow along with latest news and analysis as the 2024 spring window opens
Here’s a rundown of the players that Colorado has lost to the transfer portal thus far with the spring window opening as Sanders gears up for his second year leading the program.