Lane Kiffin says teams have been tampering with Ole Miss WR who had big game vs. Oklahoma
By Derek Hryn
Published:
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin says one of his young stars has already been targeted by other programs around the country — and he’s not too happy about it.
On Monday, Kiffin appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, indicated that freshman wide receiver Winston Watkins received “three calls from places” after his breakout game at Oklahoma, with other programs essentially asking him to enter the transfer portal.
Kiffin called it “pre-portaling” — the new harsh reality of college football’s NIL era.
“Our freshman receiver has a good game, Saturday night he’s got 3 calls from places telling him, ‘come here, we’ll give you more money,'” Kiffin said. “Pre-portaling … That’s what happens.”
It’s not the first time Kiffin’s mentioned concern about losing Watkins. Back in September, after a strong performance against LSU, Kiffin joked that he shouldn’t say too many nice things about his freshman wideout or “everybody will go buy him in the portal.”
Turns out, that may not have been much of a joke.
Watkins, a former four-star recruit from Fort Myers, Florida, caught four passes for 111 yards in the Rebels’ upset win over No. 11 Oklahoma — his best game yet. Kiffin and Ole Miss fans are hopeful the talented freshman stays put, but the coach’s comments make one thing clear: the recruiting never really stops anymore, even after a player’s already on campus.
