Portal Rumor Mill: Activity picks up in advance of winter window

The transfer portal has not even officially opened yet – that happens on Dec. 9 – but the news is ramping up so there’s no better time for a Transfer Portal Rumor Mill.

Few Division II transfers have generated the type of offer list that Atkins has in a little over a week. The tight end out of Northwest Missouri State holds offers from South Carolina, West Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Cal, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Houston, Pittsburgh and others.

Atkins, who has two years of eligibility remaining, also has a full slate of visits planned out. He has visits to North Carolina (Nov. 30 – Dec. 1), Arkansas (Dec. 11-12), Pittsburgh (Dec. 13-14), Ole Miss (Dec. 15-16), Houston (Dec. 18-19) and South Carolina (Dec. 21-22) scheduled but this itinerary could change in the coming weeks.

The trip to North Carolina for this coming weekend is up in the air after news of Mack Brown being fired broke on Tuesday.

Barmore looks like a transfer prospect fans should get familiar with. The Mercyhurst star caught 65 passes for 825 yards and 11 touchdowns this season according to PFF. Since entering the transfer portal on Monday he has reeled in offers from Texas Tech, Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech and Louisiana Tech.

Cal, Arizona, Arkansas, Houston, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Kansas have also shown interest in Barmore.

Matheson entered the portal as a graduate transfer on Sunday and he’s already stacked up offers from Western Michigan, Toledo, Buffalo and Middle Tennessee but more are on the way. Duke, Stanford and Houston are just some of the Power Four programs that have shown interest in the experienced offensive lineman.

Look for Matheson to plan some visits in the near future. Duke and Houston have extended visit invitations along with each of the four teams that have already offered him.

Perkins has drawn significant interest after entering the portal on Monday. The Fordham graduate transfer, who is credited with 40 career pass breakups and nine career interceptions, is garnering interest from more than 20 teams around the country including Power Four programs Michigan State, West Virginia and Houston.

Perkins is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to Georgia Southern this weekend and plans for additional visits are in the works.

Reed has been one of the most popular players in the transfer portal in the last week. The All-Ivy League cornerback entered the transfer portal on Nov. 21 and has picked up at least eight Power Four offers since then.

Reed is currently in the midst of a series of visits to Texas Tech, Baylor and Houston. More visits are expected to be planned for the coming weeks.

Simmons entered the transfer portal on Tuesday and by the end of the day he picked up offers from Liberty, Pittsburgh, Houston, Toledo, Western Kentucky, NC State, South Florida, Duke, East Carolina, Cal, Michigan State, Texas Tech, UCF, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

It’s obviously still early in the process for Simmons but at this rate he’ll have plenty of Power Four options. Simmons only has one year of eligibility remaining but expect his offer sheet to continue to grow before he makes any decisions.

Memphis picked up commitments from two important transfer prospects on Tuesday night.

Williams, a four-star transfer from Iowa, chose the Tigers over Kansas. He had visited both programs prior to making his decision.

Walker, who is affectionately known as “Pooda,” is a transfer from Kennesaw State. The 6-foot-1, 305-pound defensive lineman had been expected to take visits to UCF and Houston in the coming weeks. Walker did visit Memphis earlier this month and felt it was a good enough fit to end his recruitment before taking more visits.

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