Jay Toia changes course, stays at UCLA instead of entering the portal

Jay Toia is another defensive tackle USC won’t have on its 2024 roster.

Former USC Trojan Jay Toia transferred to UCLA. As a Bruin, Toia had announced his decision to enter the transfer portal earlier this month. Now, Toia has reconsidered. The defensive tackle is staying at UCLA. There was speculation that upon entering the portal, Toia might be in play for the Texas Longhorns as a possible pickup. Now that scenario is off the board.

UCLA Wire has more:

“The UCLA Bruins saw DL Jay Toia enter the transfer portal in what was expected to be a significant loss for the defense. However, days later, Toia decided to return to Westwood in a surprising turn of events.

“For Texas fans, they were hoping to land Toia, especially with him attending the Spring Game over the weekend and trending towards moving to Texas, or so everyone thought.”

The plot twists in the portal are emerging left and right. USC needs to find a way to ride the wave and catch a premium defensive tackle in this spring transfer portal window. The Trojans do not have the level of depth they need to flourish in the Big Ten. They need to add more pieces.