Cormani McClain entered the transfer portal after one tumultuous year of college football with Deion Sanders at Colorado. He is joining the University of Florida as a walk-on.
A new video reveals just how close he was to playing for the Gators last season before Coach Prime snatched him up and brought him to Boulder!
It is another wild twist in what has been a crazy journey thus far. His life came full-circle.
McClain, a Class of 2023 prospect, ranked in the top-15 overall as the No. 1-ranked player at his position out of high school. He received 26 offers from all over the country, including Georgia, LSU, Alabama, BYU, Tennessee, Ohio State and Michigan, among others. Very few schools, if any, would’ve turned him down.
The Florida-native was considered a lock to stay in-state to play for either Miami or Florida. There was something of an NIL bidding war for McClain, who initially committed to ‘The U’ in October of 2022.
And then Sanders got the job at Colorado!
For the second year in a row, the Pro Football Hall of Famer was able to flip the top-ranked defensive back in the country to his program. Travis Hunter was the first at Jackson State. McClain decommitted from the Hurricanes and committed to the Buffaloes shortly before signing day.
It was a huge get for Coach Prime and Colorado. It quickly became a disaster.
Cormani McClain didn’t succeed in Boulder.
Deion Sanders eviscerated his five-star freshman in a public setting while he struggled for playing time. McClain eventually got into the lineup and played possessed. His coach gave him his flowers.
However, not long thereafter, Sanders sent McClain back to the bench in his first start.
The relationship only deteriorated further from there.
McClain hit the transfer portal during the spring window and conveniently omitted Coach Prime from his final farewell to the Buffaloes. He later threw shade at him by declaring that he doesn’t want to “play for clicks.”
Now, after a lot of chatter about USF and Memphis, McClain is committed to Florida as a walk-on.
To call it a “fall from grace” might be unfair. I just don’t know what else to call it.
If the entire saga isn’t strange enough, a new piece of McClain’s past has since resurfaced. It was a video that he filmed in high school for his commitment to… Florida.
McClain actually pledged to the Gators back in 2021, but never went public with his decision. He came that close to committing to the program as a scholarship player approximately 15 months ago, on National Signing Day in 2023.
Now, after one frustrating year with Sanders in Boulder, McClain is walking on to the program that he once committed to in an unreleased video. The grass is not always greener!