Vote: Will Colorado's Cormani McClain enter the transfer portal after the 2023 college football season?
Colorado has been the biggest surprise in college football in 2023 and a major reason for the Buffalos’ early success, after a lengthy period of struggle, was the ability of new head coach Deion Sanders to convince high profile players, both high school recruits and gems from the transfer portal, to join him Boulder.
Perhaps none of those names was bigger than freshman 5-star cornerback Cormani McClain from Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida.
McClain, the top cornerback in the Class of 2023 and the nation’s No. 12 overall recruit, flipped to Colorado after previously committing to the University of Miami. It was a major win in the recruiting wars for Sanders, who made his highly publicize jump to Colorado, from Jacksonville State, only a few months later.
McClain was clearly enamored with the opportunity to play under and learn from perhaps the greatest cornerback in NFL history, but Sanders never promised an easy ride.
Sanders has pushed McClain hard and made him work for every snap he has received on game days and, to do date, they have not been plentiful. In fact, McClain hardly saw the field in the Buffalo’s first four games and Sanders was blunt in explaining the reason.
“Study and prepare,” was the first thing McCain had to do better in Sanders’ opinion. “Be on time for the meeting, show up to the darn meeting. Understand the scheme. Understand what we are doing as a scheme.
“Want to play this game, desire to play this game, desire to be the best in this game, at practice, in the film room and on your own free time. You do know I check film time from each player upon the week so I can see who’s preparing, that’s not just about Cormani. So if I don’t see that would be a fool to put somebody other there who’s not prepared. Can’t do it, won’t do it.”
With the Colorado secondary decimated by injuries, McClain did see the field in a nationally televised contest on September 30th against USC and got noticed when he hauled in a tipped pass for a potential interception, which was eventually nullified by a pass interference call on a teammate. He also had is one and only pass breakup of the season in that contest.
Colorado’s Cormani McClain (1) knocks a pass from USC’s Brenden Rice during Pac-12 football on September 30, 2023. It remains his only pass defense during his freshman year with the Buffalos.
Photo by Cliff Grassmick/BuffZone.com
Compared to his high school production, McClain’s freshman stats are absolutely pedestrian. He has just two tackles (one solo), with one tackle for loss and the one pass breakup.
After a 3-0 start, Colorado (4-3 overall) has lost three of four and stands 1-3 in the Pac 10 Conference. It would figure, Sanders would want to get his younger players more involved as the second half of the season progresses, but it remains to be seen if McClain will answer the call.
McClain, who transferred to Lakeland and won a state championship during his senior year, after starting his career at Lake Gibson, has a decision to make.
Does he want to make the commitment Sanders expects of him and make his mark with the emerging Buffalos or will elect to hit the transfer portal himself and select a program where his obvious talent will be enough to get him onto the football field?
What’s your opinion? Let us know by voting in our poll below.
