Colorado's Deion Sanders Loses 18 Players to Transfer Portal After Spring Game

The Deion Sanders evolution at Colorado continued Monday as 18 players decided to enter the transfer portal following Saturday's spring game, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. It is one of the first mass exoduses since he took over.

In his first team meeting after being hired as head coach in December, Sanders told the players to "hop in that portal" as he was looking to upgrade the talent of a program that won just one game last season.

And he has brought in some star power.

Among the new players are some from his time at Jackson State, namely Travis Hunter, who was the No. 1-ranked player in the class of 2022. He also brought in 5-star cornerback Cormani McClain to pair with Hunter in the defensive backfield.

Since April 15, Colorado has had 31 players enter the transfer portal.

The Buffaloes have been losing players to the portal throughout the spring, but Monday was the program's largest set of departures since Sanders took over. Thirteen others chose to leave last week.

There were several notable names that left the team, most notably wide receivers Jordyn Tyson and Montana Lemonious-Craig, who were Colorado's leaders in receptions and receiving yards, respectively, last season.

Lemonious-Craig is perhaps one of the most surprising departures, as he had a very impressive performance in the spring game, finishing with 168 yards and two touchdowns.

Over his three seasons in Boulder, he had 34 receptions for 497 yards and five touchdowns.

Deion Smith, the team's leading rusher in 2022, was also one of the latest departures.

The energy surrounding the program has totally changed with Sanders' arrival, and there is perhaps no greater example than the turnout at the spring game. Folsom Field was jam-packed with 47,277 people in attendance.

The previous nine iterations brought in an estimated 47,044 combined.

Sanders' vision for the program is starting to take shape.