Bobcat Portal News

[MTmadeCat]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

Does anyone know if the roster spots were filled for the two that were dismissed from the team before the season (Latin-Henley & Bryson Parker)?

[MSU01]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

Does anyone know if the roster spots were filled for the two that were dismissed from the team before the season (Latin-Henley & Bryson Parker)?

I believe so, I actually counted the players on the online roster before making that post and it had the full allotment of 105.

[nanacat]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

[CalgaryCat]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

There’s bye week can always affect how a team plays, too, in my opinion. You obviously want to play for a top 8 seed but it comes with its own risks. Just look at the CFB Playoff. 6 straight losses for teams with bye weeks before Indiana ended it

[MSU01]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

I think that experience played a greater role in the results of the two games last year and this year than anything involving the transfer portal. Last year almost all of the NDSU players had been there before while most of the MSU players hadn't, and that showed when MSU came out tight and fell behind early. This year almost all of the MSU players had been there before while none of the ISU players had that experience, and MSU was the team that got off to a hot start and built a halftime lead. In the second half of both games, the trailing team made a valiant comeback effort that just fell a little bit short. Both the 2024 Bobcats and 2025 Redbirds fought hard to the very end of the game, including the players who ended up in the portal from both of those teams.

To me the Yale game this year was less about MSU playing poorly and more about Yale coming in and playing a hell of a good game to keep it as close as they did. Even so, MSU was up 21-7 and looked like they were cruising to the finish line until Lamson had that fumble and the game got much, much closer than it would have been otherwise.

[MTnative]

This is an interesting take on the portal and NIL by a former Arizona State player.

Juan Rogue

I'm gonna weigh in on this Transfer Portal ****** because it needs to be said. To start this is getting out of hand. You have what are supposed to be amateur college athletes now being all about the money. College Football is no longer about being given a chance to get a free education and playing the sport you love. It's no longer about establishing yourself at your Alma Mater and earning recognition and even becoming a legend there over the FOUR OR FIVE YEARS that they were on campus (Three if the player left early for the NFL). It's no longer about the legacy it's about the loot and how much a player can get. Legend has given way to dollars and the Mercenary Marketplace known as the "Transfer Portal" has, in my opinion, assassinated the spirit of college football. It's no longer about "My Teammates" and "My Coaches" it's about "My Bank Account!" I get it that the landscape has changed and that compensation has become part of the deal now but the stink of this money is hard to deny. Yeah okay a team wins a Natty now people are gonna say what's true; it was the best team that money can buy. That to me takes away from the meaningful accomplishment of winning. Wins are no longer earned they're bought with Billionaire Donor Dollars or Wealthy NIL Collectives.
Next is the situation that relates to TWO former ASU Quarterbacks: Jaden Rashada and Sam Leavitt. The irony is two years ago both these kids were here in Tempe. After Spring one left, Jaden, when the other, Sam, beat him out in Spring. The sad part of this is Jaden left school and went to Georgia where he did not play. Then he transferred to FCS Sacramento State and was hurt again and did not play any meaningful snaps. He's in the Portal again looking for his fifth school. How does THAT lead to success for this kid? He in essence has lost three years of football over this NIL nonsense. His plight started when he changed commitments from Miami to Florida over a huge NIL carrot that was dangled in front of him only to have it turn out to be ******. Rashada got out of his Letter of Intent with Florida, sued them for Breach of Contract (lawsuit still pending) then landed here at ASU for one year and did nothing. Now he's three years older, has no meaningful experience and is looking for someone to pick him up. I'm sure he will get a shot somewhere but damn! Sad man, just sad!

All of this is true but these guys don't have to transfer and chase after NIL. We have a ton of guys that aren't leaving and they aren't all from MT. I know the $$ promises are high but nobody is being forced to play that game.

You are right, nobody is forcing them. But, they have agents blowing a lot of smoke at them. One thing is sure, education is no longer part of the equation.

I can't imagine what Taco has gone through since Monday night. I'm sure it was overwhelming before that but it has to be on another level now.

I bet Oregon is calling.

I bet Oregon has been calling since about an hour after the week 1 game.

That is the one school I would hope Taco would NEVER go to.

[BlueAndGoldNation]

Reed Harris looks like he's getting some huge money to go to ASU, no surprise there.

Any news on Hayden Hanks from anybody in the know?

[GavinDonos]

So a lot of players who enter the portal due to pride never end up getting offers. They lose their scholarships and careers.

The other guys get sweet nothings whispered into their ears from schools that amount to be… well, nothing. We saw that with Infanse and Glesner and the Texas Tech OL guy that is a memory. A few of them hit the jackpot, like Diego Pavia, but those cases are rare.

These kids are entering the portal at their own risk. We need to get used to the fact that we are a minor league development program when it comes to out of state (Texas) kids now. In my opinion if these guys want to be treated like pros, there should be a contract involved with the schools. That would mean collective bargaining, which nobody on the landscape has the balls or power to do. NIL and the transfer portal has totally f’d up college sports. Portal kids will never have a true Alma Mater or a group of teammates that they can claim and lean on as lifelong brothers. It sucks.

Some portal winners of note - 4 QBs remaining are portal guys...1 was D2
Mendoza (Cal to Indiana) Heisman winner - only offer was Yale out of HS until Cal jumped in late
Chambliss (Ole Miss) - Ferris State Transfer
Dante Moore - UCLA to Oregon
Carson Beck - UGA to Miami

Last few years have been good to some
Jayden Daniels - ASU to LSU
Bo Nix - Auburn to Oregon
Caleb Williams - OU to USC
Jaymyr Gibbs - GT to Bama
Bucky Irving - Minnesota to Oregon
Tons more

Okay, like I said, there are outliers. 4,500 kids in the portal right now. Update your spreadsheet and give me the results in June.

[BelligerentBobcat]

@BelligerentBobcat

You claimed this earlier

“I understand that, but no coaching staff is going to be bold enough to host a player who hasn’t entered the portal. Work the lines through agents, sure. A full visit? No way.”

Then how does this happen? I’m telling you it’s ugly out there

Because the date they announce they’re in the portal on Twitter isn’t always the same date they actually enter it.

As an example, Javonte King announced it yesterday, but he got approved for it on the 5th.

Regardless, Caden flew home on the team charter and was in surgery on the days of his supposed visits. Somebody got their info wrong.

OK, that is fair. If that is actually what’s happening. I just thought it was really weird that he finally publicly announced the portal yesterday when he was obviously committed and ready to go with SEMO days prior.

Obviously no first hand knowledge here, but from reading between the lines, the coaches and players all generally know who's gone before the championship game is played. And it's not just players, but coaches who will be leaving too. They have it all lined up, they just don't "announce" anything because it takes attention away from the team. Plus, for somebody like Wilson, who's the backup QB, you're not too worried about it if he's talking to schools before the game. But like we saw with Carson Williams, they have this all decided quite a bit before the natty is ever played. As long as they communicate with the coaches, it doesn't bother me.

[BelligerentBobcat]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

This is just choosing the conclusion you want and finding a way to make it work.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Reed Harris looks like he's getting some huge money to go to ASU, no surprise there.

Any news on Hayden Hanks from anybody in the know?

I'm not in the know, but Hanks has announced offers from UM, Tech, and Western. Pretty risky taking a DL that was forced to medically retire.

[nanacat]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

This is just choosing the conclusion you want and finding a way to make it work.

Not really. Just a thought.

[Nickisch]

I saw a comment on fb that several guys who've entered the portal planned to a month ago. As frustrating as that is, I do appreciate that those who played in the Natty, played well, gave it their all to win the game. I don't feel that happened last year. I'm also guessing that the team and coaches knew, and the drama in the locker room was decreased due to that.

However, a month ago was the Yale game, which was a wonky game for sure. The speculation was there was illness going through the team, and that may be true. But I wonder if a bit of them playing "off" had to do with players making their intentions known, and that creating a bit of a hiccup. Obviously they pulled together to finish strong, which speaks to the leadership from coaches to captains.

This is just choosing the conclusion you want and finding a way to make it work.

I talked to people that know Williams personally, and before the Yale game, the DBs had all had a FaceTime call saying they wanted to run it back for a year, so I truly doubt all of these decisions were made that long ago. The offers kept coming and getting bigger for these guys.

[lutecat]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

In the cold, hard world of college football aren't scholarships one-year deals? I think players have had reductions over the years, so the staff was able to bring in transfers at the cost of reducing funds to another player. I say this not knowing anything about how MSU/Vigen/Costello do things. Just a thought.

If things hold, then MSU is in really good shape next year. I'd be a little edgy about that though, because I haven't seen anyone proclaim they're staying. I have an inkling that the Collective, et al are doing everything they can to keep guys like Lamson, Taco, Caden, Jones, Steel, Lencioni, Fleischmann, Zimmer, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Black, Daily, Taylor, Grebe, Carr, Taki, and probably a few others on board. That's a lot of names (17), so if someone is driving a hard bargain, then it might be tough to keep them all. Every one of them is deeply invested in MSU, so that would help.

Its interesting to me the griz had one of their better player portal today. Like maybe they couldnt come to an NIL deal?

[CodyCat]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

In the cold, hard world of college football aren't scholarships one-year deals? I think players have had reductions over the years, so the staff was able to bring in transfers at the cost of reducing funds to another player. I say this not knowing anything about how MSU/Vigen/Costello do things. Just a thought.

If things hold, then MSU is in really good shape next year. I'd be a little edgy about that though, because I haven't seen anyone proclaim they're staying. I have an inkling that the Collective, et al are doing everything they can to keep guys like Lamson, Taco, Caden, Jones, Steel, Lencioni, Fleischmann, Zimmer, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Black, Daily, Taylor, Grebe, Carr, Taki, and probably a few others on board. That's a lot of names (17), so if someone is driving a hard bargain, then it might be tough to keep them all. Every one of them is deeply invested in MSU, so that would help.

Its interesting to me the griz had one of their better player portal today. Like maybe they couldnt come to an NIL deal?

Who?

[BlackJack]

I know most don’t care like us, but 247 or ON3 need to add FCS tracking.



That is all.

[kwcat]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

In the cold, hard world of college football aren't scholarships one-year deals? I think players have had reductions over the years, so the staff was able to bring in transfers at the cost of reducing funds to another player. I say this not knowing anything about how MSU/Vigen/Costello do things. Just a thought.

If things hold, then MSU is in really good shape next year. I'd be a little edgy about that though, because I haven't seen anyone proclaim they're staying. I have an inkling that the Collective, et al are doing everything they can to keep guys like Lamson, Taco, Caden, Jones, Steel, Lencioni, Fleischmann, Zimmer, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Black, Daily, Taylor, Grebe, Carr, Taki, and probably a few others on board. That's a lot of names (17), so if someone is driving a hard bargain, then it might be tough to keep them all. Every one of them is deeply invested in MSU, so that would help.

Its interesting to me the griz had one of their better player portal today. Like maybe they couldnt come to an NIL deal?

Who?

Apparently, it is too difficult to just say a name

[coloradocat]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

In the cold, hard world of college football aren't scholarships one-year deals? I think players have had reductions over the years, so the staff was able to bring in transfers at the cost of reducing funds to another player. I say this not knowing anything about how MSU/Vigen/Costello do things. Just a thought.

If things hold, then MSU is in really good shape next year. I'd be a little edgy about that though, because I haven't seen anyone proclaim they're staying. I have an inkling that the Collective, et al are doing everything they can to keep guys like Lamson, Taco, Caden, Jones, Steel, Lencioni, Fleischmann, Zimmer, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Black, Daily, Taylor, Grebe, Carr, Taki, and probably a few others on board. That's a lot of names (17), so if someone is driving a hard bargain, then it might be tough to keep them all. Every one of them is deeply invested in MSU, so that would help.

Its interesting to me the griz had one of their better player portal today. Like maybe they couldnt come to an NIL deal?

Who?

Apparently, it is too difficult to just say a name

Jareb Ramos?

[91catAlum]

So right now in terms of the roster numbers, MSU has lost 18 players from the 2025 roster with 9 graduating seniors and 9 players in the portal. They signed 20 incoming freshmen so are still at a +2 count overall for next year's roster. If the portal entries are going to (hopefully) start to taper off here after the initial flurry then there won't be a lot of roster spots open for incoming transfers.

In the cold, hard world of college football aren't scholarships one-year deals? I think players have had reductions over the years, so the staff was able to bring in transfers at the cost of reducing funds to another player. I say this not knowing anything about how MSU/Vigen/Costello do things. Just a thought.

If things hold, then MSU is in really good shape next year. I'd be a little edgy about that though, because I haven't seen anyone proclaim they're staying. I have an inkling that the Collective, et al are doing everything they can to keep guys like Lamson, Taco, Caden, Jones, Steel, Lencioni, Fleischmann, Zimmer, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Black, Daily, Taylor, Grebe, Carr, Taki, and probably a few others on board. That's a lot of names (17), so if someone is driving a hard bargain, then it might be tough to keep them all. Every one of them is deeply invested in MSU, so that would help.

Its interesting to me the griz had one of their better player portal today. Like maybe they couldnt come to an NIL deal?

Who?

Apparently, it is too difficult to just say a name

Jareb Ramos?

Yep. He can't be that good given the mediocre griz run D. He's no Gubner.

[catatac]

Reed Harris looks like he's getting some huge money to go to ASU, no surprise there.

Any news on Hayden Hanks from anybody in the know?

Link on how much Reed might be getting, and how it's structured? I honestly have no idea how it works, if it's multi year, if there are stipulations, injury clauses, etc.