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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Former Colorado cornerback Cormani McClain, who headlined coach Deion Sanders’ first recruiting class with the Buffaloes, is transferring to Florida, his agent, Hector Rivas of Disruptive Sports, told ESPN.
McClain, ESPN’s No. 14 recruit in 2023, visited Florida last week with his mother and Rivas. The Lakeland, Florida, native will return to his home state after entering the transfer portal last month.
After a slow start to last season, he started four games and appeared in nine for Colorado, recording 13 tackles and two pass breakups. McClain initially committed to Miami but flipped to Colorado in January 2023, shortly after Sanders was hired. In a YouTube video posted shortly after he entered the portal, McClain said he planned to “bring the old version of me out and change the narrative of [what] everyone’s thinking of my name, be part of a real and a great program that’s going to impact me at my best abilities.”
He noted that academics have never held him back and that he doesn’t want to “just play for clicks, I want to be involved in a great leading program.”
McClain, who will have three years of eligibility left and a redshirt available, joins a Florida defense that has been aggressive in the portal this winter and spring. The Gators also added defensive backs Jameer Grimsley (Alabama), Asa Turner (Washington) and Trikweze Bridges (Oregon), and also made additions at linebacker and along the line.
Sanders, in an interview last month with DNVR Sports, said he wishes the best for McClain.
“I pray to God that he goes to a program that challenges him, as well as holds him accountable and develops him as a young man,” Sanders told DNVR. “Unfortunately, we weren’t the program that could accomplish that.”