Desmond Claude, a dynamic All-Big Ten guard, has become one of the most coveted names in the transfer portal after a breakout season at USC. With his market value peaking, top programs and their NIL collectives are vying for his signature ahead of the 2025-26 season.

NIL Era Heats Up as Top Programs Pursue Claude

Claude’s transfer saga has quickly become one of the most closely watched stories of the offseason. After averaging 15.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.5 rebounds at USC—earning All-Big Ten honorable mention—Claude entered the portal just before the deadline, immediately drawing interest from college basketball’s elite.

According to Jeff Goodman, “Tennessee and Oregon both reached out to USC transfer Desmond Claude today… Claude also looking at Alabama and Gonzaga. SMU has also been in the mix”.

Tennessee and Oregon both reached out to USC transfer Desmond Claude today, source told @thefieldof68.

Claude also looking at Alabama and Gonzaga. SMU has also been in the mix.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 28, 2025

Gonzaga, Alabama, and Washington have emerged as frontrunners, each offering unique advantages. Under Mark Few, Gonzaga touts a consistent NCAA Tournament pedigree and a system that develops NBA talent, making it an attractive destination for Claude to raise his draft stock.

Alabama, meanwhile, is leveraging its strong NIL resources and immediate backcourt needs, especially after losing key guards in the offseason. “A return to the NCAA is the expectation… I think that’s a good pressure. I’d rather that pressure to the other way. I like a little pressure on me,” said Alabama coach Nate Oats, underscoring the program’s high standards and the opportunity for Claude to play a starring role.

The NIL landscape has fundamentally shifted the calculus for top transfers like Claude. Washington, for example, is aggressively rebuilding its roster and, with robust NIL backing, can offer both a featured role and financial incentives that rival any program in the country. The competition is fierce, and as one analyst noted, “Money talks, baby. And where the money is, people are going to follow that. That is the next level for some people now”.

Decision Looms: Fit, Role, and NIL Offers in the Balance

As the recruitment nears its conclusion, Claude is weighing more than just basketball fit. Alabama and Texas A&M are reportedly confidently positioned in the driver’s seat, providing a clear, immediate role along with a strong NIL package, while Gonzaga remains a compelling option for player development and national exposure.

The delay in Claude’s Alabama visit has only intensified speculation, with both sides expected to revisit discussions after the NCAA dead period in June.

Other programs, including Tennessee, Oregon, and SMU, have made late pushes, but the consensus is that the combination of NIL power, on-court opportunity, and national profile will determine Claude’s next stop.

KEEP READING: Bruce Pearl’s Lineup for New Season Predicted After 6’9” Star’s Transfer Portal Acquisition

As one insider put it, “Claude is looking for a proven backcourt mate to share playmaking & a team built for a deep run,” indicating that both competitive ambitions and financial security are at the heart of his decision.

In the new era of college basketball, Claude’s recruitment exemplifies how NIL collectives and transfer portal dynamics are reshaping the sport. As the deadline approaches, all eyes remain on where this All-Big Ten guard—and his soaring portal value—will land next.

College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!

RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

FOX Sports announced a portion of its 2025 college football schedule on Thursday afternoon, and it is stacked with must-see matchups.

In addition to announcing the first three “Big Noon Saturday” games of the season and the entire Week 1 slate, which is highlighted by a heavyweight showdown between Texas and Ohio State, FOX also announced the return of “FOX College Football Friday,” which will mostly feature a mixture of Big Ten and Big 12 matchups.

“FOX College Football Friday” kicks off on Aug. 29 with Auburn taking on Baylor in Waco, Texas, and concludes with the Mountain West Championship on Dec. 5 on FOX.

With the likes of Auburn, Nebraska, USC, Oregon and Arizona State all featured on “FOX College Football Friday,” there will be plenty of individual star power taking the field.

Let’s take a look at the complete Friday night slate and then highlight eight names to watch this fall during “FOX College Football Friday.”

Auburn at Baylor (Friday, Aug. 29 on FOX)

Player to watch: Jackson Arnold, QB, Auburn

Jackson Arnold transferred from Oklahoma to Auburn over the offseason. He was the fourth-best quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, via 247 Sports.(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

I’m eagerly awaiting to find out if Auburn coach Hugh Freeze believes Arnold is good enough to start for not just one, but two SEC programs in two years. Arnold showed up to Oklahoma after winning National Gatorade Player of the Year at Guyer High School (Denton, Texas) in 2022. In his first start at Oklahoma, he completed 26 of 45 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in an Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona. Every other start after that failed to hit that high-water mark, even after helping Oklahoma get past No. 7 Alabama last season.

At Auburn, Arnold enters the building as the most talented prospect in what should be a loaded QB room for Freeze.

Kansas State at Arizona (Friday, Sept. 12 on FOX)

Player to watch: Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State

Kansas State QB Avery Johnson had 605 rushing yards and seven rushing scores to go with 2,712 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his first season as Kansas State’s starting quarterback. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

Johnson will begin this season as the front-runner to win Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year after passing for more than 2,700 yards and rushing for more than 600 with 32 total touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a sophomore. Alongside the explosive Dylan Edwards, Kansas State’s backfield is the fastest in the Big 12. The Wildcats should feel good about their chances of winning the Big 12 title and being selected for the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history this season.

Iowa at Rutgers (Friday, Sept. 19 on FOX)

Player to watch: Mark Gronowski, QB, Iowa

Former South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski transferred to Iowa over the offseason after helping the Jackrabbits win two FCS titles. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

For too long, the Hawkeyes have longed for a quarterback who could simply get out of the way of Phil Parker’s otherworldly defense. For nearly the first half of the season last year, Cade McNamara was able to do just that. But after an injury, the Hawkeyes were forced to put their offensive hopes and dreams on the back of departed running back Kaleb Johnson.

Now, they need a great QB more than ever and Kirk Ferentz found one in Gronowski. His pedigree is that of a winner. He is 49-6 as a starter, a two-time FCS national champion, Walter Payton Player of the Year (FCS Heisman) and a first-team All-American. His ability to make plays in the passing and rushing game makes him a natural fit for Ferentz’s ball-control, complimentary style of football.

TCU at Arizona State (Friday, Sept. 26 on FOX)

Player to watch: Josh Hoover, QB, TCU

TCU’s Josh Hoover is the Big 12’s top returning passer in 2025, throwing for 3,949 yards last season. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

After throwing for more than 3,900 yards with 27 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, Hoover should be expected to be a 4,000-yard, 30-TD QB in 2025. Indeed, his talent on tape is so prodigious that he reportedly turned down a seven-figure NIL deal to transfer. Last season, Hoover threw for at least 212 yards in every start and at least 300 yards in six of his starts.

Nebraska at Minnesota (Friday, Oct. 17 on FOX)

Player to watch: Dylan Raiola, QB, Nebraska

Dylan Raiola enters his second season as Nebraska’s starting quarterback, helping the Cornhuskers play in their first bowl game in eight seasons. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

Raiola enters his sophomore season having led the Huskers to their first bowl game appearance in eight seasons. The next step in his evolution needs to be contending for the Big Ten championship. In a league that has produced the last two national champions, that’s a tough task. But so is playing through the middle of the field where many expect Minnesota to be.

If Raiola can mature into a credible downfield passer, accumulate 3,500 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns with Dana Holgorsen calling plays, there’s every reason to believe the Huskers can put themselves in position to contend for a CFP spot.

Northwestern at USC (Friday, Nov. 7 on FOX)

Player to watch: Jayden Maiva, QB, USC

Jayden Maiava went 3-1 as USC’s starting quarterback last season. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images)

After getting his first start against Nebraska last year, Maiva threw for at least 221 yards in each game and accumulated 15 total touchdowns. In partnership with Lincoln Riley, Maiva could turn into one of the upper-tier QBs in the Big Ten.

Minnesota at Oregon (Friday, Nov. 14 on FOX)

Player to watch: Dante Moore, QB, Oregon

Former UCLA QB Dante Moore will likely replace Dillon Gabriel as Oregon’s starting quarterback in 2025. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

At this point in the season, quarterback Dante Moore and wide receiver Dakorien Moore ought to have generated a partnership worth national recognition. This quarterback-wideout combo features one of the most entertaining passers of the 2023 class with the best wide receiver in the 2025 class. Following Heisman finalists Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel, Dante Moore has the physical tools to lead Oregon to another Big Ten championship.

Arizona at Arizona State (Friday, Nov. 28 on FOX)

Player to watch: Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State

Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson is one of the top returning receivers in the country after recording 1,101 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns last season. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

Not many wideouts were more dependable and prolific as Tyson was at Arizona State last season. In four of his last six games for the Sun Devils, Tyson recorded 100 receiving yards or more — one game with 99 — and ended the season with 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdown catches. With Sam Leavitt back at QB, Tyson could be the best wideout in the Big 12.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.

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After at least a year of heavy politicking, a change will be made to the induction rules for the College Football Hall of Fame. The organization has paved the way for Mike Leach to join.

According to a press release from the National Football Foundation, the College Football Hall of Fame will lower its win percentage requirement for entry from 60% to 59.5% in 2027. That will make the late Mississippi State coach eligible for induction.

“The NFF is committed to preserving the integrity and prestige of the NFF College Football Hall of Fame,” NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell said. “This adjustment reflects thoughtful dialogue with leaders across the sport and allows us to better recognize coaches whose contributions to the game extend beyond a narrow statistical threshold.”

It’s a move many have clamored for for quite some time. It was a big topic of discussion at multiple league media days last year.

“I also want to mention, I know a couple of my counterparts have said some of the same things regarding this notion,” Lincoln Riley said at Big Ten Media Days. “But obviously Mike Leach meant a lot to my career. Instrumental in my upbringing. I know there’s been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame and [I] certainly want to voice my support for that happening here on this stage.

“That’s something that’s very important to me. He changed the game and changed a lot of people’s lives, mind included in the process of it. I know there’s technicalities and rules that have to happen, but I totally agree that the Hall of Fame is simply not complete without Mike Leach being in that. Just certainly wanted to be able to represent that here on this stage.”

The previous rules for induction prevented Leach from being eligible. Those rules?

In short, a head coach needs to have been active for at least 10 seasons, coaching in 100 games, and have a .600 winning percentage. Leach doesn’t have a .600 winning percentage. He has a .596 winning percentage, largely because he took jobs at schools that had historic disadvantages within their respective conferences.

Riley wasn’t the only head coach to campaign for Mike Leach’s inclusion, either. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz also joined the chorus after realizing SEC Media Days would be headed to the College Football Hall of Fame in the near future.

“It reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame,” Drinkwitz said at the 2024 SEC Media Days. “We need to put his name on the ballot.

“Coach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this room’s mind, is a no-doubt Hall of Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people. Not only with his legacy but also with his football acumen. His air raid offense is the dominant offense when you look at high school football, its elements in college football, and all the way translating into the NFL. We all know Y-cross, we all know that six is four verticals. We all understand that rocket laser where tailback screens rocket to the right, laser to the left.”

Now, Mike Leach will officially be eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame in the near future. It’s been a long time coming.

ORLANDO, Fla. — I have played an early edition of EA Sports College Football 26, and I’ve got some thoughts.

The return of the college football video game series last year was 11 years in the making, and it mostly lived up to the hype. CFB25 was a joy, but it was far from perfect with some obvious holes. Despite its flaws, it became the highest-selling sports video game of all time in total dollars because of that excitement and execution.

So what’s in store for Round 2? EA Sports announced some new features Thursday ahead of the July 10 launch, and The Athletic got to test out the gameplay in person for a few hours.

This is not a full game review, as I haven’t played the whole game, but here are the five biggest changes to the franchise for CFB26.

1. Real coaches are in the game (mostly) and the coaching carousel is deeper

Lane Kiffin said last year he’d be in the game for free, as coaches immediately realized its recruiting value. Now, more than 300 real coaches and their likenesses are here, including head coaches, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators. Not everyone is signed up, either because they declined or haven’t responded yet. Bill Belichick is not in the game, which is not a big surprise since he didn’t make himself available for Madden either. I also didn’t see Deion Sanders when playing a game as Colorado.

Real coaches have their own tendencies and skills that show up in Dynasty mode. In the coaching carousel, you can see a G5 coach move up the ranks, a real college coach leave for the NFL or change coordinators. That was in the game last year, but now they’re real. It’s technically possible to see Kirby Smart struggle and stumble down the ranks to become a Group of 5 coordinator if things go poorly.

Ryan Day is among the coaches in the game. (Image / EA Sports)

2. High School Mode is back in Road to Glory, and it’s optional

This was one of the top demands from gamers, since High School was part of RTG in the old NCAA series. Developers told me they didn’t have time to fit it all in last year and felt most gamers just wanted to focus on the college experience. Indeed, they said Thursday that the feedback was mostly positive. Still, they planned to bring High School back and now they have, but players can skip it if they like.

After playing it briefly, I’ll tell you it looks very fun and creative, coming from someone like me who didn’t like the old High School mode. You pick 10 schools and play five high school weeks. In those weeks, you’re just trying to complete a few tasks in a game, like a certain kind of throw, to gain points for a “tape score.” When you earn enough points, you get a scholarship offer. But that point threshold is different from school to school. A “challenge” from a school is another point-boosting opportunity. You pick your star rating to start, but it can rise or fall depending on how you do in the tasks.

You can commit and decommit and see who else your suitors are recruiting. Schools also offer you certain skill bonuses that help your college player, which is the stand-in for NIL. You can get an offer from a school, but wait for it to increase the skill bonus based on your tape score. Developers said the goal is for High School mode to last about an hour of gameplay.

3. Online Dynasty cross-play

Xbox players rejoice. We won’t be left out of our PS5 friends’ online dynasties any longer. Cross-play allows gamers with Xbox and PS5 to compete against each other with up to 32 players. While cross-play was already playable for single games, it’s now available for Dynasty mode, which was already in place for Madden.

4. Formation subs and dynamic subs

This was the biggest in-game request from gamers, and it’s here. Formation subs allow you to set lineups in the pause menu for specific formations, like a power running back for short-yardage runs. Dynamic subs will allow you to make quick individual substitutions during the game using the D-pad, without needing the pause menu. It pulls up a little screen to let you know the status and overall rating of players at different positions. You can also work auto-sub sliders for each position, setting up a sub when a specific position reaches a certain wear-and-tear level.

Powerhouse Programs. Real World Coaches. Electric Traditions. Experience it all in #CFB26.

Coming July 10. Pre-Order Now
: https://t.co/PswZmDtrOF pic.twitter.com/FyQjPSTCj8

— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) May 27, 2025

5. Gameplay is smoother, and a lot of the little annoyances are gone

When you first start playing a game, it mostly feels the same. This isn’t some big overhaul. Last year was an entirely new game, especially new for me as someone who got out of gaming when the NCAA series went away. So it’s not jarring anymore to jump on the sticks and see a real college quarterback making a throw. But the more I played over a few hours, I started to notice a lot of little improvements.

For example, your receivers will make more catches in contact. Developers told me they realized there were too many pass breakups on hits. That’s nice. Quarterback scrambles out of pass plays are much smoother and realistic-looking. Your QB doesn’t need to fully stand up in his throwing stance before you can start running around. Defensive linemen now have “block-steering” ability, where you can push an offensive lineman in a direction that you choose. It’s a nice addition for people who play with a DL.

Running the ball was my favorite part of CFB 25, and it’s even better in this game. Run-after-catch was also smoother. There’s a lot more you can do on defense, too. Developers heard the feedback that playing defense was too hard. It seems a bit easier with better tackling, but for the hardcores, you can now set custom DB zones (in response to custom receiver stems), you can commit to certain routes and guess the play, and you can call stunts and twists on the line by holding the play selection button and choosing from options.

Other notes:

• Oklahoma might be this year’s most popular team, thanks to the additions of quarterback John Mateer and running back Jaydn Ott. The Sooners were a lot of fun to use.

• There are more renovated stadiums, including Florida State, but Northwestern is still at the old Ryan Field. There are more, but not all, bowl stadiums. No Ireland, and still not every NFL stadium.

• Trophy Room is back in Dynasty Mode. Not only can you see the trophies and awards you’ve won, you can click and see the all-time history of trophy winners, like Wisconsin being the first Big Ten champion in 1896. That’s cool.

• Rivalry games and night games will have a greater impact on Stadium Pulse shaking. The rivalry trophies are also highlighted in the game menu. Yes, even the Civil ConFLiCT trophy is in this game.

• Protected games are in Dynasty after being pulled at the last minute out of CFB25.

• Wear-and-tear can last throughout the season in Dynasty and Road to Glory.

• Thankfully, the menu screen is no longer just that drumline over and over and over. It will include marching band covers of real songs.

• Speaking of real songs, “Enter Sandman” for Virginia Tech was the big one, as evident in the trailer. It also added “Mr. Brightside” at Michigan, “Seven Nation Army”, “FE!N” by Travis Scott, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” at Notre Dame and the “2001: A Space Odyssey” song for South Carolina’s intro, among others.

• Dynamic lighting is here. Game light and shadows change throughout the game based on time of day and geography. Enjoy that Rose Bowl sunset in the second half.

Overall, my takeaway from these early pieces of CFB26 is that the game filled the major holes from CFB25. We’ll have the main modes and in-game adjustments that were needed. I’ll have a full review later in the summer when I get to play the whole game.

During a week in which leaders in college football again argued about the future of the College Football Playoff and threats to leave the NCAA, this game was once again a reminder of the celebration of all of college football. There are so many more stadium run-out shots and new school-specific songs/chants added, along with turnover celebrations. We got Akron’s tire celebration and Clemson’s bus entrance in the trailer. New additions Delaware and Missouri State look as good as everyone else (and I particularly liked the Delaware playbook).

CFB25 wasn’t a reskin of Madden, as many gamers feared. It was uniquely college football. The early returns look like CFB26 will be that once again.

(Top photo courtesy of EA Sports)