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5-Star CB Who Spurned Deion Sanders Amid Work Ethic Criticism Transfers To Florida As Walk-On

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Colorado cornerback Cormani McClain reacts during a play.

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Former 5-star cornerback Cormani McClain has found a new home after transferring out of Colorado. The defender is headed to Gainesville with plans of suiting up for the Florida Gators.

The decision comes as no surprise considering his Sunshine State roots, but the move does come with an interesting caveat. He’ll likely arrive to campus as a walk-on.

That’s something not typically seen of top ranked prospects, but McClain’s path is a bit out of the ordinary. After originally committing to Miami, the defensive back flipped his pledge to Colorado.

Initially, that appeared to be a match made in heaven. The top-ranked cornerback in his recruiting cycle paired with arguably the top-ranked cornerback in NFL history – what’s not to like?

Unfortunately, the pairing was anything but.

McClain failed to crack the starting roster, and when he did finally see game action, he struggled mightily. Poor on-field performance led to off-field criticism from Coach Prime, who questioned the DB’s work ethic and commitment throughout the year.

That led to an eventual split when Cormani McClain hopped in the transfer portal over the offseason.

Miffed by Sanders’ take, he conveniently omitted the head coach from his farewell message, before later throwing a jab at the program by saying he didn’t want to “play for clicks.”

After nearly a month of searching for a new home, he landed on a school.

Cormani McClain will transfer to Florida as a walk-on.

 

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Billy Napier did enough to convince the cornerback to join the roster, a feat made more impressive by the fact that McClain might not be on scholarship when he gets to campus.

The Gators are at the 85-man limit as summer nears, meaning unless someone decides to leave, he has to pay his own way.

Now, NIL will likely take care of most, if not all of those tuition costs, but the point still stands! Nick de la Torre of On3 broke the situation down on Wednesday.

“The plan right now is that he’ll walk on at Florida. Florida’s right at the scholarship limit at 85 right now. There’s a couple players that maybe you could see jump off scholarship, but the plan is that Cormani McClain will walk on at Florida with the chance to earn a scholarship in December…

“From Florida’s standpoint, you’re getting a former five-star talent… who’s paying his own way to come play for your football team.”

Not a bad deal for the Gators! Little risk, high reward.

With Cormani McClain finding his next home, he’ll look to escape the narrative of having a poor attitude and write a new storyline.