Baylor lands offensive lineman from South Alabama in the transfer portal
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The college football transfer portal has been the talk of the town since opening last Friday with thousands of players entering. Over the past couple of days, those players have been making decisions on where they will be playing in 2026.
RELATED: Baylor transfer portal tracker: Every player coming in and out of the program in 2026
Following the commitment of Stilton McKelvey on Sunday night, Tuesday evening has been a busy one for Dave Aranda and staff. Asher Hale, a sophomore offensive lineman from the South Alabama Jaguars, has committed to the green and yellow. Hale started 11 games at right guard for the Jaguars in 2025.
Hale was a three-star recruit out of St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, Alabama and is unranked in the latest on3 transfer portal rankings. In his high school recruitment, Hale was offered by UAB, Marshall, Louisiana, Alabama State and North Alabama. As a true freshman in 2024, Hale appeared in 12 of the 13 games and started in the IS4S Salute to Veteran’s Bowl, where South Alabama defeated Western Michigan.
Hale is the third offensive lineman to commit to the Bears through the portal, joining Logan Moore (UAB) and Nate Kibble (Texas). Offensive linemen were going to be a point of emphasis in the transfer portal for Aranda and his staff with Ryan Lengyel, Omar Aigbedion and Sidney Fugar graduating. The position group absorbed more attrition through the portal with Sean Thompkins (North Carolina), Coleton Price (Kentucky), Colton Thomasson and Wes Tucker all looking to transfer.
Hale will compete for the starting spot at right guard and the expectation at the least is to be in the playing rotation. Offensive linemen that were on the 2025 roster and expected to return are Cayden Tone, Wyatt Swaner, Koltin Sieracki, Matthew Parker, Kaden Sieracki, Harrison Cluff, Isaiah Robinson, Keyston Allison and Connor Cameron.
Along with Hale, Kibble, McKelvey and Moore, Baylor has landed Kamren Washington (defensive line) and Devon Jordan (cornerback) via the transfer portal. With the commitment of the six players, Baylor’s average player rating is 62.17 and the average of the 20 players leaving sits at 70.35, so there is still more work to be done to make up for the losses. The transfer portal will remain open until January 16th.
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Allen began covering college sports as an intern for InsidetheGators.com for the Florida Gators 2021 football season. He has been a freelance sportswriter for the past four years at newspapers such as the Ocala Gazette, Ocala Star-Banner and GatorBait Media. As a lifelong sports fan, Allen's dream is to cover sports every day.