As Offseason Slows Down, Sun Devils Await Portal Decision by Jermayne Lole
Headlines for college football teams are tough to come by at this point in the offseason, and the Arizona State Sun Devils are no different.
The deadline to enter the transfer portal (and remain eligible to play in 2022 without a waiver) has come and gone. Spring practice is now a distant memory with fall ball months away.
For players and fans, the regular season can't come fast enough.
Arizona State made some recent splashes in the portal with Florida quarterback Emory Jones and Vanderbilt wide receiver Cam Johnson, yet their outgoing departures are still concerning.
LV Bunkley-Shelton and Ricky Pearsall have both taken visits to varying schools despite not committing yet. Bunkley-Shelton was recently at Kansas and Oklahoma, while Pearsall reportedly has options narrowed to Florida and Oregon.
While those pass-catchers are considered as good as gone, Arizona State still holds out hope that one impact player will return home at the end of the day in defensive lineman Jermayne Lole.
Lole, considered to be one of the top interior linemen in the Pac-12, hit the transfer portal right before the May 1 deadline to reportedly explore potential NIL offers outside of ASU.
On May 13, Lole recently took his first of four announced visits at Louisville. He appeared to like his time spent with the Cardinals.
Lole's next visit will come at Florida on May 20, with Texas Tech (May 27) and Oregon (June 3) still on deck.
With Omarr Norman-Lott returning to ASU, the Sun Devils would love to fully reload their defensive line with the talents of Lole.
Should he take his time with each school, we likely won't know his fate for about another month.
Lole reportedly does prefer a return to Arizona State, or at least those were his initial thoughts before exploring whether the grass was truly greener on the other side.
With no deadline for him to actually commit to another program, Lole can take all the time he needs to decide his future after playing for the Sun Devils since 2018.
Truth be told, if ASU could pick any position group to lose such a talented player, it would be the defensive line. The Sun Devils have plenty of faces along the trenches who feel like they're capable of stepping in.
However, Arizona State knows how vital Lole is to their defense, and is willing to give him all the time in the world to make a decision that's best for him. It's now a waiting game the Sun Devils hope to win.