Deion Sanders loses several players to transfer portal

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders loses 2023 five-star CB, other players to transfer portal

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 4/16/24

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders has built his team largely through the transfer portal.

But now, Sanders is feeling the repercussions of losing players as well. Several players, including prized 2023 five-star cornerback Cormani McClain, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, per On3's Hayes Fawcett.

Beyond McClain, other players to leave Colorado include wide receiver Tar'Varish Dawson Jr., offensive linemen Isaiah Jatta and David Conner, defensive tackle Chazz Wallace and safety Myles Slusher, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

McClain's mother seemed to hint on social media that Sanders and the Colorado coaching staff took her son for granted.

Gotta be somewhere where your appreciated and not just tolerated!!! God take the lead, we right behind ya
— Kaishay (@Kaishay5) April 16, 2024

Sanders said back in December he wasn’t worried about losing players to the portal — words he presumably regrets now.

“You have to understand, we have not lost anything that we desperately have to have," Sanders told 247Sports. “Now if you say Travis (Hunter) or Shedeur (Sanders) or this guy or that guy, I have got a problem now. … You are going to lose certain players, because that is just life…that is why you are constantly recruiting and improving and creating competition.”

Although he saw limited action as a freshman, in which he totaled 13 tackles and two passes defensed, McClain was the No. 1-ranked cornerback and No. 13 overall player in the class of 2023, per the 247Sports composite rankings.

McClain was just the fifth five-star recruit to ever commit to CU, and he was the fourth-highest rated player in the school’s history. Fortunately for Sanders, seven of the other nine cornerbacks on his roster are all underclassmen, and he added three more in his incoming recruiting class, including Oregon State transfer D.J. McKinney.

More must-reads: