Portal Rumor Mill: Transfer season kicks off with a bang
The transfer portal officially opened on Monday and hundreds of players have already entered looking for a new home and a fresh start. Here’s what Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney is hearing so far in this Portal Rumor Mill.
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The former Florida defensive end who’s now a four-star in the portal rankings is hearing from “a lot of schools” but the only visit planned so far is to Texas A&M.
The Aggies are definitely a team to watch and this could be a quick flip unless Collins wants to wait and see some other programs before a decision.
Cooper does not have any visits finalized yet but the three-star defensive back from Florida State is hearing most from Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State and Memphis so far.
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None of those programs were in Cooper’s top six before he chose the Seminoles coming out of high school.
Two official visits have been set up for the former Arkansas defensive end who finished with 23 tackles and one sack this season. Davillier is planning to see UCLA and Mississippi State before making any final decisions.
After one season at Nebraska, the former four-star is looking for a new home but the word is that the Huskers are not giving up on keeping him and continue to stay in communication about staying in Lincoln.
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So far, the other main competitor has been Florida State but others are expected to jump in as no visits have been set yet.
Despite not putting up big numbers at USC, Eldridge is seeing major interest from Duke, Washington, Washington State, San Diego State, Boise State, Cal and Eastern Washington so far.
The former Bellingham (Wash.) Lynden Christian three-star tight end will visit Washington on Dec. 13 as the only visit planned so far. New interest from Georgia Tech and Ole Miss is also coming in now.
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The four-star offensive lineman put up impressive PFF numbers at Harvard this season and it’s now given him offers from Virginia, Memphis, James Madison and a host of other programs with a ton of new interest coming in as well.
Programs from all Power Four conferences have reached out so Gentle’s list could change dramatically in the coming days. Gentle was at Memphis on Monday and then has trips to Virginia, Tulane and James Madison soon.
Nebraska will get the first visit from Graham on Thursday and the former Florida State linebacker will be at Kansas on Saturday as those two programs have emerged early on in Graham’s portal recruitment.
Many others are expected to get involved in the coming days.
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After it didn’t work out at Texas Tech after one season, the five-star receiver was at Texas A&M on Monday and if all goes well the Aggies could be loading up majorly at wide receiver through the portal. Hudson is definitely one to watch as the Aggies were involved late in his high school recruitment.
Kelly caught 53 passes for 869 yards and four touchdowns this season and so the four-star receiver has received significant interest since entering the portal.
Michigan State and Louisville are Kelly’s visits that are set in stone and then Cal, Washington, Kansas, Memphis and North Carolina are reaching out most.
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Key led Kentucky with 47 receptions for 715 yards and two touchdowns. Louisville, Nebraska, Georgia and South Carolina are the most involved in his recruitment now. The four-star is planning a visit to Louisville early next week as there continue to be rumors that Vince Marrow could join that staff so the Cardinals will be one to watch.
After backing up Ethan Garbers at UCLA this season, Martin is on the move and has a host of programs reaching out already for the former Inglewood, Calif., quarterback. Stanford, in particular, has reached out but eight or nine others will get involved with the talented QB as well.
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The three-star linebacker from Dartmouth was a stat stuffer this season with 30 tackles, five sacks, five pass breakups, and Mullen is getting significant interest now.
Memphis, Georgia Tech, Nevada, UAB and a host of MAC programs are reaching out to Mullen as he’s finalizing visits at this point.
The four-star offensive lineman who was impressive at Cal Poly this season has five visits coming up before Christmas with four of them in the ACC.
Norton will be at Wake Forest on Dec. 14 and then every two days after that he will see Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Kansas State to close things out on Dec. 22.
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A four-star defensive end in the 2023 class, Osborne did not make much of an impact at Alabama this season but after jumping in the portal he’s seeing some significant interest already.
USC, LSU, Penn State and SMU are reaching out but Osborne has not finalized any visits yet.
The former four-star running back in the 2023 class signed with Iowa State but then bounced to New Mexico this season, and he rushed for 1,063 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
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Sanders was at Michigan State on Monday and he’ll be at Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday. More trips could be coming as Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Memphis have offered in recent days.
Texas Tech, Pitt, Florida State, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Alabama will all receive visits over the coming weeks as Simmons is one of the most wanted offensive linemen in the portal coming out of Western Carolina.
Oklahoma offered Simmons on Monday and then Vanderbilt and Nebraska are also talking a lot, along with Michigan and Auburn.
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With former coach Gus Malzahn leaving to be the offensive coordinator at Florida State, a whole bunch of UCF players have hit the portal including Threats, who has Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State, UCLA and Syracuse reaching out most.
The only visit the three-star defensive back has planned so far is with the Bruins this week.
Tennessee Volunteers forward Alyssa Latham (33) fouls Alabama Crimson Tide guard Jessica Timmons (23)Thursday, March 5, 2026, during the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament second round game at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Alabama Crimson Tide won 76-64.
(Alex Martin/Greenville News, Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Former Alabama guard Jalil Bethea has officially committed to Pittsburgh, per Rivals’ Joe Tipton.
Bethea struggled to make a consistent impact throughout his one and only season at Alabama. The former Miami transfer averaged 3.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists this past season, as Bethea could potentially play a much larger role throughout his time at Pitt next year. Bethea averaged just eight minutes per game this season as well, as the former Crimson Tide guard will now turn his full attention towards a fresh start with the Panthers.
Bethea was ranked as the No. 3 shooting guard and the No. 7 overall player from the class of 2024, per the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was listed as the No. 1 overall player out of Pennsylvania as well, as a return to his home state could undoubtedly be exactly what Bethea needs to turn his career around during the 2026-27 campaign.
Following the commitment of Bethea, Aiden Sherrell and Taylor Bol Bowen are the lone Alabama players in the portal who have yet to announce a transfer decision.
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Lawrence County crash kills mother and 2 children, injures 2
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TEACH OTHERS THESE SAME SKILLS. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT AT REGIONS FIELD, THE SKIES ARE BLUE. IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE ON THE FIELD, AND JUST A GREAT DAY TO SOAK UP THE SUN 84 DEGREES RIGHT NOW IN BIRMINGHAM AND ACROSS THE MAP. WE ARE IN THE MID TO LOW 80S FROM 84 IN WINFIELD JASPER ALABASTER. SAME THING IN PELL CITY AND ANNISTON. THE WARMEST SPOT ON THE MAP 85 THE COOLER SPOT IN THE MAP UP IN COLEMAN AT 82 AND 82 DEGREES UP THERE IN ALBERTVILLE TOO. RADAR IS DRY. HAS BEEN FOR THE PAST 6 TO 7 DAYS, AND THE REST OF THIS EVENING WILL REMAIN DRY. WILL DROP TO THE 80S LOW 80S BY 7:00, MID 70S BY 9:00, AND THEN OVERNIGHT WILL DROP TO THE 60S AND WILL WAKE UP TOMORROW MORNING IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S. SO MAYBE A LITTLE BIT CHILLY FOR SOME, BUT OTHERWISE WARM AND WARMER THAN WE SHOULD BE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR, NOT ONLY IN THE MORNING, BUT IN THE AFTERNOON. TOMORROW TOO. WE’RE BACK IN THE MID 80S, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE WERE TODAY, WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE HUMIDITY. NOW WE HAVE NOT SEEN THAT MUCH RAINFALL SO FAR THIS ENTIRE MONTH. THIS IS MONTH TO DATE. AS YOU CAN SEE, TODAY IS THE 12TH. WE HAVE UP TO 11. AND ANYWHERE YOU SEE THAT ORANGE COLOR, THAT’S WHERE WE’VE SEEN NO RAIN. THE BEST RAINFALL WE GOT WAS LAST WEEKEND, MAINLY ON SATURDAY WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. NOW THIS IS JUST FOR BIRMINGHAM AND IT REPRESENTS A DROUGHT. AND THAT’S NOT JUST THE CASE FOR BIRMINGHAM. IT’S THE CASE FOR MOST OF ALABAMA. THIS RED AND THE DARK RED COLORS REPRESENT ANYWHERE BETWEEN ONE AND UP TO THREE, IF NOT FOUR INCHES OF A 30 DAY RAINFALL DEFICIT, MEANING WE NEED MORE RAIN THAN WE’VE GOTTEN IN THE PAST 30 DAYS. AND THAT LACK OF RAIN PULLING A LOT OF MOISTURE OUT OF THE GROUND DUE TO THAT DROUGHT IS WHY THERE’S A RED FLAG WARNING IN PLACE FOR BOTH NORTH AND PARTS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. FROM FLORENCE ALL THE WAY DOWN LINEVILLE CLAY COUNTY, TALLADEGA. SHELBY. JEFFERSON. JEFFERSON WALKER ALL THE WAY UP TO MARION COUNTY’S. JUST MEANS THAT THERE IS A HIGHER FIRE DANGER. SO DON’T BE BURNING ANYTHING OUTSIDE TODAY, EVEN THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, BECAUSE FIRE RISK IS HIGH AS THE DROUGHT CONTINUES. HERE’S A FORECAST MODEL SHOWING WHERE WE COULD SEE THE MOST RAINFALL OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, NOT MUCH. NORTHWEST ALABAMA COULD SEE A TRACE OF SHOWERS AS THESE TINY ISOLATED SHOWERS POP UP MONDAY EVENING ACROSS MARION FRANKLIN LAUDERDALE COUNTY BUT EVEN THAT CLEARS OUT AS EARLY AS 10 P.M. MONDAY NIGHT. AND OVERALL, IT’S NOT A WHOLE LOT. BUT HERE’S THAT SEVEN DAY FORECAST. HIGH STICK AROUND IN THE 80S AS HIGH AS 89 FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A FEW CHANCES FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS THURSDAY THAT RETURNS SATURDAY A
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Lawrence County crash kills mother and 2 children, injures 2
Updated: 7:42 PM CDT Apr 12, 2026
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Video above: Weather forecastThree people died and two were injured, including children, in a northern Alabama car crash Saturday, according to our news partner WAFF.The Lawrence County coroner told WAFF that a vehicle driven by Ashley Hagood, 33, was hit on the side by a truck near Highway 157 and Highway 24 in Moulton.Hagood and her four children — Bryant Ballew, 13; twins Bryleigh and Brynleigh Pledger, 7; and Bentley Pledger, 10 — were inside the car at the time of the crash. Ballew and Bryleigh died at the scene, while Hagood was taken to a hospital, where she later died.Bentley and Brynleigh were taken to a hospital in Birmingham. According to WAFF, Bentley was taken off a ventilator Sunday afternoon. Brynleigh is recovering from surgery and dealing with brain swelling and bleeding, which doctors anticipated and hope the surgery will alleviate. Brynleigh also reportedly suffered seizures Saturday night.The crash remains under investigation, according to WAFF.
MOULTON, Ala. —
Video above: Weather forecast
Three people died and two were injured, including children, in a northern Alabama car crash Saturday, according to our news partner WAFF.
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The Lawrence County coroner told WAFF that a vehicle driven by Ashley Hagood, 33, was hit on the side by a truck near Highway 157 and Highway 24 in Moulton.
Hagood and her four children — Bryant Ballew, 13; twins Bryleigh and Brynleigh Pledger, 7; and Bentley Pledger, 10 — were inside the car at the time of the crash. Ballew and Bryleigh died at the scene, while Hagood was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
Bentley and Brynleigh were taken to a hospital in Birmingham. According to WAFF, Bentley was taken off a ventilator Sunday afternoon. Brynleigh is recovering from surgery and dealing with brain swelling and bleeding, which doctors anticipated and hope the surgery will alleviate. Brynleigh also reportedly suffered seizures Saturday night.
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The crash remains under investigation, according to WAFF.
