Clemson football is finally open for business in the transfer portal. As of Monday, Dabo Swinney and the Tigers had added 10 players through the portal: nine on defense and one on offense.
SMU running back Chris Johnson became the first player on offense added through the portal on Sunday, while the defense has bulked up with standouts such as former defensive linemen London Merritt (from Colorado), Markus Strong (Oklahoma), Kourtney Kelly (West Georgia), and CJ Wesley (Howard University), plus linebacker Luke Ferrelli (California).
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Defensive backs Elliot Washington (from Penn State), Jerome Carter (Old Dominion), Corey Myrick (Southern Miss) and Donovan Starr (Auburn) have also committed to Clemson through the portal. The 10 players are far and away the biggest number of transfers in the Swinney era, surpassing last year’s total of three.
The Tigers’ busy portal activity recently landed them on ESPN’s list of 10 teams that have gotten off to hot starts in the transfer portal, and that was before the additions of Johnson and Wesley.
ESPN’s Max Olson said of Clemson:
“Let’s give credit where credit is due. Dabo Swinney took a lot of grief over the years for his resistance to portal recruiting. The trio of transfers he brought in a year ago — Will Heldt, Tristan Smith and Jeremiah Alexander — all paid off and started games this season, with Heldt emerging as an All-ACC performer. Now, the Tigers are fully going for it this year, signing a strong group of defensive contributors to help get things fixed after a disappointing 7-6 season. Ferrelli was the ACC’s Defensive Rookie of the Year at Cal this season as a redshirt freshman. Carter and Myrick were two of the top safeties in the Sun Belt, and Merritt and Starr are two promising freshmen who were ESPN 300 recruits a year ago. Clemson is off to a good start.”
Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Penn State, and perennial transfer portal players like Indiana, Ole Miss and Texas Tech also made ESPN’s list, as did ACC foe California.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football named among ‘hottest’ transfer portal teams
