A look at the transfer portal additions UConn football has made since spring practice ended

Jim Mora and the UConn football program have been busy in the last month since spring practices ended, recruiting the transfer portal and offering a number of high school players scholarships.

Noting a need to continue building depth for the 2024 season, particularly on the offensive line and in the receivers room after losing key pieces, UConn added multiple players at each position through the transfer portal. The team landed 11 players from the portal in the last month.

The most significant change came at quarterback, where former starter Ta’Quan Roberson left and former Wisconsin QB Nick Evers joined on the same day . Roberson recently announced his commitment to Kansas State . Evers will be in competition with returner Joe Fagnano and freshman Cole Welliver for the starting job.

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Here is a look at the latest transfer additions:

Offensive line

After losing Christian Haynes (NFL Draft, Seattle Seahawks), Noel Ofori-Nyadu (Denver Broncos mini camp), and Takiri Walker (Colorado), UConn had enough returning pieces to field an O-line but needed some more depth, particularly after New Canaan native and former Michigan lineman Jack Stewart tore his achilles during the spring fan fest.

The Huskies added former Maryland and Charlotte guard Ja’Khi Green and former Syracuse tackle Jayden Bass to bolster the group. Green played six games over three seasons at Maryland before transferring to Charlotte, where he started eight games and missed two to injury. Bass, a native of Springfield, Mass., won multiple state championships at Springfield Central High and was recruited by UConn before seeing time in two games for the Orange last season as a freshman.

Receiver

Brett Buckman has stepped up as a lead voice in the receivers room as he enters his second year with the Huskies, and UConn also added a promising and experienced pass-catcher in T.J. Sheffield , from Purdue, just before the spring event. The Huskies lost three of their top four receivers in the offseason with tight end Justin Joly transferring to NC State, Cam Ross going to JMU and Geordon Porter graduating. Canadian Kevens Clercius was also drafted to the CFL and scored his first career touchdown on Monday .

New additions include 6-foot-3 Shamar Porter from Kentucky and 6-foot-5 Ezeriah Anderson, who committed to Iowa State out of high school and played the last two seasons at Campbell, where he caught 35 passes for 489 yards and three TDs last year. Porter comes in with little experience after an ankle injury kept him off the field for the Wildcats. UConn also landed a commitment from Cole Lakatos, son of former UConn DB coach Scott Lakatos, and previously added Skyler Bell (Wisconsin) and Jasaiah Gathings (Akron).

Defensive line

Two graduate students: Jevon Banks, 6-2, 190 pounds from Kansas State and Jack Barton, 6-4, 265 pounds from Georgia Tech, join an experienced UConn defensive line that lost key performer Eric Watts, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets.

Banks played three seasons at Mississippi State, where he was coached by UConn’s new defensive coordinator Matt Brock. He recorded a career-best 17 total tackles in his final season with the Bulldogs before playing seven games and Kansas State, where he recorded nine tackles and a career-best two sacks. Barton played 40 games over his career and finished with 63 total tackles (25 solo), 13 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, seven pass deflections and one fumble recovery while at Furman. He left Georgia Tech in the spring without playing a game for the Yellow Jackets.

Defensive backs

After entering the transfer portal in January 2023 and sitting out the entire season, former Wisconsin wide receiver and defensive back Dean Engram joined the Huskies as a DB this spring. He had made the switch to receiver for the 2022 season and made 13 catches for 152 yards, while returning 24 punts for 132 yards. Engram started five games at nickel cornerback for the Badgers in 2021, while serving as the team’s primary punt returner.

UConn also added Jordan Wright (Kansas State), Reggie Akles (New Mexico State) and Jarvarius Sims (Central Michigan) from the portal earlier this offseason.

Linebacker

Seven years after he started college in 2018, Jayden McDonald joins the Huskies’ front seven with plenty of experience. He redshirted the 2018 season at Iowa and transferred to Troy, where he sat out the 2019 season due to transfer rules (which have since changed) before playing four years with the Trojans. He transferred to Indiana in January before reentering the portal and joining the Huskies this month.

McDonald registered 75 tackles, 40 solo, with a sack and a pass deflection last year at Troy and has one year of eligibility remaining.