JT Daniels was a big-time USC pick-up a few years back as the five-star quarterback chose the Trojans over the rest of the litter which included offers from Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Stanford and plenty of others. He made an unofficial visit to South Bend before committing to USC.
Now Daniels has entered the transfer-portal, the result of an unfortunate injury last fall. That led to the emergence of Kedon Solvis who looked great as a freshman in 2019 and certainly played a role in Daniels announcing his decision to enter the portal on Thursday.
USC QB JT Daniels has put his name in the transfer portal.
Here is @USCCoachHelton’s statement: pic.twitter.com/yCl2hnK6Kj
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) April 16, 2020
Just because Daniels has entered the transfer portal doesn’t mean that he is 100% out at USC. He could exit the portal and stay with the program, but I’d bet against that. For reference, Daniels threw for
Does Notre Dame make sense for Daniels?
Daniels will have three years of eligibility remaining, having used a year of eligibility only in 2018 at USC. I’m always for competition for starting spots and that steel sharpens steel, but with Tyler Buchner already committed and Drew Pyne in the 2020 class it’s hard for me to imagine Notre Dame pushing too hard. Stranger things have happened but I’d be very surprised to see the Irish pursue this former rival, even if I don’t have a problem with more competition at the most important position.
Where does he go then?
Assuming health, which can get you in trouble, he’ll have his pick of plenty of top programs. One of those top programs just happens to be coming fresh off a national championship and showed what they could pull off with a transfer quarterback who is about to go first overall in the NFL Draft. Yeah, I’m guessing LSU for Daniels, as unoriginal of thought as it may be. Figure to be plenty of players here, though.