Indiana Football Recruiting: As the Portal Turns

Recruit the Portal. Recruit your locker room.

Coaches have learned that in the Transfer Portal era, you must recruit your locker room and scout the transfer portal. Cignetti has done an excellent job of this. Though the Hoosier did lose Sorsby to the portal, Cignetti and his staff did convince some key players to rescind their transfer and stay in Bloomington.

The biggest name staying at Indiana is wide receiver Donaven McCulley. No one is happier about that than Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke. He's also delighted that running back Trent Howland decided to return to IU.

Tackle Carter Smith returns as well. Wisconsin transfer Trey Wedig bookends Smith at the other tackle. Cignetti added some much-needed depth and speed at receiver around McCulley. Rourke's teammate Miles Cross signed with IU. Myles Price comes from Texas Tech. Ke'Shawn Williams joins teammate Justice Ellison from Wake Forest. Mikail Kamara follows his coach from James Madison.

Cignetti and his staff have not neglected the high school ranks either. The Hoosiers are in the running to close on in-state four-star quarterback Tyler Cherry. They are also looking to close on all the in-state recruits they target. Cignetti and his staff have a plan and are executing it well.