Transfer portal updates: FSU-Miami for Cam Ward, who won the week, commitments to watch
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Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff Writer
Washington State transfer Cam Ward is one of the most highly sought-after quarterbacks available this offseason, and he has started visiting schools. He recently took a trip to Miami and is visiting Florida State this week. Ward said he enjoyed the Miami visit and it gave him his first look at a potential new school.
“It was a good visit for sure. With Mario Cristobal, [Shannon] Dawson, the offensive coordinator, I felt like the hospitality was off the charts,” Ward told ESPN. “I feel like what he’s building out there is good. … It’s for sure something that I wouldn’t mind being a part of.”
Ward currently has only those two visits planned.
“I haven’t set a third visit yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I set a third visit,” said Ward, who was fifth in the nation in passing yards in 2023. “I’m continuing to talk to a lot of other schools, so I’m going to play it by ear. USC is in there, Nebraska is in there, Washington for sure, and there are a couple other schools that haven’t reached out yet.”
Because this is his second time transferring, Ward knows what he’s looking for and what he wants out of his last season of eligibility.
“The biggest thing is just being part of a culture and the offensive line protecting, the weapons I put myself around,” Ward said. “And being able to play good team football. I feel like I have to put myself in a position where both sides of the ball are in it.”
Ward hasn’t ruled out entering the NFL draft, but that decision will come after he sees all the schools he has interest in. As the top-rated QB in the portal, Ward’s decision will impact other quarterbacks who are currently uncommitted, as well, with some schools overlapping in whom they’re targeting with limited spots remaining.
Here is a look at where the other quarterbacks stand in their transfer process, a few schools that had great weeks in the transfer portal and recruitments to watch over the next week:
Jump to a section:
QB news | Winners of the week
Commitments coming?
Where other top quarterbacks stand
DJ Uiagalelei | Transferring from: Oregon State
What he has done: Uiagalelei was an ESPN 300 recruit out of high school and signed with Clemson out of California. He sat his first season behind Trevor Lawrence, but showed flashes of his big arm in spot duty that first season. He had a roller-coaster sophomore year and transferred to Oregon State. He had a more consistent season in 2023, throwing for 2,638 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Beavers.
Where things stand: Uiagalelei has been through the transfer process once before, leaving Clemson for Oregon State. He isn’t in a hurry to make a decision to find the best spot for him to continue developing his talent.
A source told ESPN that Florida State has interest but wants to bring him in for a visit to see if there is a cultural fit within the program. Uiagalelei is scheduled to visit Florida State this weekend, he told ESPN.
“I have a good idea what I want to find out, what I want to ask, I’m just excited to get down there,” Uiagalelei said. “I have only been there for a game, I’ve never taken a visit there before in high school. So, I’m excited to talk to Coach [Mike] Norvell, all the coaching staff there and see Tallahassee.”
Miami could be an option as well, as Uiagalelei and Ward are looking at some of the same schools. They might be playing a game of musical chairs to see what the other does first. Mississippi State and Louisville are two other schools that had been in the mix for Uiagalelei, as well, but the visit to Florida State could dictate how the rest of his recruitment plays out.
Danny Hernandez, a private quarterbacks coach who has worked extensively with Uiagalelei since junior high, believes the move to Oregon State was a big help for the star quarterback.
“It was just let me go in, do my thing and develop [at Oregon State], because that was a big thing for him. Let me just develop and he felt like he was getting that there with really good coaches,” Hernandez said. “With Jonathan Smith and Coach [Brian] Lindgren, it got him to just be able to relax and play.”
His resurgence and confidence has put him in a spot where he has a good number of options this time around.
“Obviously not being part of a rebuild and I think for him it would really make sense to be at a program that’s established,” Hernandez said. “I think that’s why a school like Florida State would make sense. If you have the need, you almost become that plug-and-play guy. I think that’s the ideal situation for a lot of these elite guys, especially if they’re leaving a spot where they were already a starter.
“Can I go into this spot that just seems like I might be that missing piece in order to keep the party going or take it to a higher level.”
Dante Moore | Transferring from: UCLA
What he has done: Moore was a five-star prospect from Detroit. He had an up-and-down true freshman season in 2023, playing in nine games and throwing for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Where things stand: Moore’s agent told ESPN he has been ill and finishing up academic work at UCLA, so his process didn’t fully get started right away.
A source told ESPN, however, that Moore is planning to visit Oregon soon and the Ducks are still in the mix despite a commitment from Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel.
“Others are being set up, too,” the source told ESPN.
The Ducks saw sophomore Ty Thompson recently enter the transfer portal and Gabriel has just one year of eligibility remaining, so Moore could come in and sit for a season then compete for the starting job.
Moore committed to Oregon out of high school before flipping to UCLA, and while then-offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham is now at Arizona State, there is still familiarity with the staff.
Michigan State and Ohio State had reportedly been under consideration for Moore, but the family is not releasing much on which schools are still in it for the former five-star.
Will Howard | Transferring from: Kansas State
What he has done: Howard helped Kansas State to a Big 12 title and 10-4 record in the 2022 season. The team didn’t fare as well this season, but Howard had 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also had nine rushing touchdowns and 351 yards on the ground.
Where things stand: Howard also visited Miami this week, but as noted above, Ward could dictate what happens with the Hurricanes after his visit to Coral Gables.
USC has been mentioned as a potential option for Howard. While Caleb Williams hasn’t announced if he will enter the NFL draft, he is the presumed No. 1 overall pick.
Lincoln Riley signed five-star recruit Malachi Nelson in the 2023 class, but adding in more competition at the position, especially someone like Howard who has experience and would be able to run the offense, would be essential as the Trojans transition to the Big Ten next season.
Which schools won the portal this week
The Wildcats have added quite a few players on offense through the transfer portal, capped by North Texas receiver Ja’Mori Maclin this week.
Maclin had 1,004 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in 2023. Kentucky didn’t have a receiver who caught more than 553 yards this season, so Maclin will be a welcomed addition. He’s joining Texas A&M freshman receiver Raymond Cottrell, who was an ESPN 300 recruit in the 2023 class, as key transfers at the position.
The staff also got Ohio State running back Chip Trayanum, who ran for 373 yards and three touchdowns on 85 attempts this season. In addition, Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff transferred to Kentucky last week, giving the staff a new set of personnel.
The Wolfpack needed help at quarterback and the coaches were able to add Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall. He has experience and has had a ton of success over the past four seasons, throwing for 10,005 yards, 88 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, while also running for 18 touchdowns.
NC State is replacing Brennan Armstrong, who transferred in before last season, and now McCall will give the coaches a dynamic quarterback to run the offense and try to build on to the 9-3 season the team had in 2023.
The Irish got their quarterback in Duke transfer Riley Leonard. It had been reported Leonard would likely transfer to Notre Dame, but he didn’t make it official until this week.
Coach Marcus Freeman needed to replace Sam Hartman, who is out of eligibility, and Leonard gives him an outstanding option. The team still has Steve Angeli on the roster and is bringing in ESPN 300 recruit C.J. Carr in the 2024 class, so Freeman has been able to build quality depth and competition at the position for the future in a short time.
Leonard will have a Duke teammate — defensive lineman R.J. Oben — with him in South Bend. Oben, whom Florida State was also interested in, had 14.5 sacks during his Duke career.
The Spartans saw most of their quarterback depth leave through the transfer portal with Noah Kim, Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt all leaving. That posed a challenge to new coach Jonathan Smith, but he was able to get Aidan Chiles, who is now following Smith from Oregon State.
Smith recruited Chiles to play for the Beavers in the 2023 class and the true freshman threw just 35 passes for four touchdowns and no interceptions this past season.
He already knows Smith’s system and how he coaches, so it should be an easy transition for both coach and player.
Recruitments to watch
The Penn transfer has become one of the more sought-after defensive linemen in the portal.
He was the Ivy League defensive player of the year and had 50 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and four sacks. He has already taken visits to Florida and Wisconsin and told ESPN he is visiting North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Auburn in the coming days.
Slackman also told ESPN he likely will not take any other visits and could make his final decision once his weekend visits are done. He hasn’t named a top list, but it’s safe to assume he’ll decide from among one of the schools he has visited.
Whichever team gets him to commit will be getting a disruptive interior lineman who should make an immediate impact.
The Florida defender surprised some by entering the transfer portal when he was being considered as a potential NFL draft pick. He was a second-team All-SEC player with 39 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 2023.
He recently took a visit to Ole Miss. The Rebels could use pass rush help and Umanmielen would provide that and more up front for the defense.
Mukuba is a former ESPN 300 recruit from the 2021 class, who signed with Clemson. He had 30 total tackles, two tackles for loss and seven pass breakups during the 2021 season. He had similar numbers in 2022 and followed that with 42 total tackles in 10 games this past season.
Mukuba has dealt with injuries over the past two seasons, but is healthy and looking for a new school. He told ESPN he is visiting Texas this weekend and the Austin native is not planning to take any other visits as of now.
While fans in Edmonton and Dallas are always singing about how they have friends in low places, only one of them has the high ground in the Western Conference finals. And that’s the Oilers after their 6-1 win Sunday in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.
With the series tied heading into Sunday, the objective for Game 3 was to gain a firm grasp of the conference finals, and the Oilers did just that by having five players with multipoint performances. As for the Stars, losing Game 3 left them trailing a series for the second time this postseason, with the only other such occurrence coming after Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Now that the Oilers are in control of the series, what does it mean for them going forward? What must the Stars do differently ahead of Game 4 for them to return home tied rather than a game away from elimination? Ryan S. Clark and Greg Wyshynski examine those questions while delving into what lies ahead for two teams that not only faced each other in the conference finals last season but between them have been involved in every conference final since 2020.
Edmonton Oilers
Grade: A
Much could change between now and whenever the playoffs end. But for now, the argument could be made that this was the most important playoff game the Oilers have had this postseason.
The Oilers have had numerous strong performances, such as Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round or their final two games against the Vegas Golden Knights in the conference semifinals. But what made the Oilers’ performance in Game 3 against Dallas arguably their most important was that they found a balance between being difficult in the defensive zone while not relying on a shutout to accomplish that objective.
The Stars finished with 37 shots, 13 high-danger chances in 5-on-5 play and scored only once. Connor McDavid has repeatedly stressed that the Oilers can play defense, and that has been made clear over their past five games. But Sunday proved they didn’t need Stuart Skinner or their defensive structure to blank an opponent to win. — Ryan S. Clark
Dallas Stars
Grade: C+
The final score doesn’t reflect the majority of this game, which Dallas coach Pete DeBoer can mine for positives among the many (many) negatives and some mitigating circumstances. Having Roope Hintz warm up but not be able to go because of the foot injury he suffered from a Darnell Nurse slash in Game 2? That’s deflating. Having the on-ice officials miss a delay of game call on Brett Kulak in the first period only to have Evan Bouchard open the scoring 10 seconds later? Also deflating.
So it’s to the Stars’ credit that they got to their game at 5-on-5 in Game 3 better than they have in any game of the series, at least before Edmonton ran up the score in the third. The results weren’t there and a loss is a loss — and a loss by this margin is difficult to stomach — but their second period and the performances from some of their slumbering depth players give the Stars at least a glimmer.
However, there’s no question Edmonton has this thing in well in-hand and the Stars have to find a way to solve Skinner, which is not something I thought I’d be writing at this stage of the postseason. — Greg Wyshynski
Three Stars of Game 3
Two goals and an assist for his seventh career multigoal playoff game. Hyman’s second goal was the Oilers’ fourth off the rush, the most in one game by any team this postseason. Hyman also was plus-5 Sunday.
Bouchard scored his sixth goal of the postseason and these two were on the ice for the first two Edmonton goals. At 5-on-5 this postseason, the Oilers are outscoring their opponents 7-1, and 5-0 in this series, when Bouchard and Kulak are on the ice.
0:48
Connor McDavid restores Oilers’ 2-goal lead
Connor McDavid finds the back of the net to restore the Oilers’ two-goal lead vs. the Stars.
3. Connor McDavid
C, Oilers
For all the talk about the lack of goals from the best hockey player in the world (which was odd because he had 20 points in 13 games and was a plus-7 entering Game 3 despite having only three goals), McDavid punched out a pair of tucks for his sixth career multigoal playoff game. Also, seeing McDavid with the puck barreling toward the net on a 3-on-1 is nightmare fuel for opponents. — Arda Ćcal
Players to watch in Game 4
Zach Hyman
LW, Oilers
To go from 16 goals last postseason to just three goals entering Game 3 of the conference finals is one way to assess Hyman. Another is to realize that he’s been the most physical player on a team that is among the tallest and heaviest in the NHL.
Hyman came into Game 3 leading the NHL with 99 hits. He remained physical Sunday by leading the way with six hits in a game that saw the Oilers continue their punishing style with 47. But to then see Hyman score two goals and finish with three points in addition to that physicality? It once again adds to the narrative that the Oilers might not only have more dimensions than last year’s team, they could be better than the team that finished Stanley Cup runner-up in 2024. — Clark
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Zach Hyman’s 2nd goal puts Oilers up 4
Zach Hyman taps home his second goal of the game to put the Oilers up 5-1 vs. the Stars.
This is the first two-game losing streak for the Dallas goaltender in the playoffs. A lot of what happened in Game 3 wasn’t necessarily on him — a Connor McDavid beauty and a Zach Hyman breakaway were among the Edmonton tallies — but outside of the third period of Game 1, he’s not been a difference-maker in this series. Oettinger came into the game leading the playoffs with 5.58 goals saved above expected, according to Stathletes. The Stars have been able to depend on him as a slump-breaker. But this is his third game with a save percentage south of .900 in the series. As the Stars try to build on some positives from this game, they need Otter to provide the foundation for it — and in the process, silence those “U.S. backup!” chants from the Oilers fans. — Wyshynski
Big questions for Game 4
Are the Oilers about to do to the Stars what they did to the Golden Knights?
Simply put, the Oilers are where hope goes to die. Teams in a championship window that have yet to win a title are always being judged on their evolution. What the Oilers did to the Stars a year ago in the conference finals by winning the last three games showed that they could close out a series after trailing. This postseason Edmonton has shown a calculated and methodical coldness when it comes to putting away opponents.
The Golden Knights won Game 3 on a last-second goal to create the belief they may have found an opening. They didn’t score again for the rest of the playoffs after being in the top five of goals per game throughout the regular season. Breaking out for six goals to open the series seemed to be a sign the Stars may have found an opening. Since then? They’ve scored only once in the last six periods while facing questions about what’s happened to another team that went from being in the top five in goals per game in the regular season. — Clark
Can Dallas make Edmonton uncomfortable at all?
Our colleague Mark Messier made this point between periods of Game 3: The Stars have yet to do anything to get McDavid or Leon Draisaitl off their games. That extends to the rest of the Oilers. Outside of an anomalous run of three power-play goals in the third period of Game 1, there have been precious few instances of the Stars carrying play for long stretches or putting a scare into Edmonton at 5-on-5.
They had that for a bit in Game 3 with a dominant second period: plus-14 in shot attempts, plus-11 in scoring chances and a 10-1 advantage in high-danger shot attempts. But they were digging out of a 2-0 hole, only managed to get one goal of their own on the board and then McDavid stuck a dagger in them with 19 seconds left in the second.
The Stars need a lead. They need zone time. They need to get their rush game going: Skinner had a .897 save percentage on shots off the rush entering the game. Edmonton is playing with a champion’s confidence. Dallas has to find a way to inject a little doubt into its opponent or this series is going to end quickly. — Wyshynski
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