All-Conference WR enters college football transfer portal after breakout season

FIU Panthers head coach Willie Simmons watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Florida International (FIU) finished the 2025 campaign 7–6 overall (5–3 C-USA) and earned a bowl berth under first-year head coach Willie Simmons, closing the season with a 57–20 loss to UTSA in the First Responder Bowl.

The team’s leading receiver, Alex Perry (6-5, 210), posted a breakout, all-conference season with 56 receptions for 840 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 15.0 yards per catch while emerging as FIU’s most explosive offensive weapon and primary red-zone target.

However, on Tuesday, multiple reports indicated Perry is expected to enter the NCAA transfer portal, with CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz noting that the standout wideout is expected to draw “high-level interest.”

Perry becomes the latest FIU contributor set to test the market, joining several other projected or confirmed portal entrants, including starting cornerback Jessiah McGrew, interior offensive lineman Antonio Tripp, and tight end Dallas Payne.

FIU star wide receiver Alex Perry is entering the transfer portal, his agent @bnm_nil tells @CBSSports.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pounder was first-team all-conference and finished the year with 56 catches, 840 yards and nine touchdowns. Expected to garner high-level interest. pic.twitter.com/t8bQIcfhfs

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 30, 2025

A Port Charlotte, Florida, product, Perry transferred to FIU ahead of the 2025 season after spending his first three years at Hawaii from 2022 to 2024.

Across his time with the Rainbow Warriors, he totaled just 48 receptions for 491 yards and three touchdowns while largely serving as a rotational depth piece.

Listed as a redshirt junior, Perry quickly emerged as FIU’s primary receiving option in his first season with the program, turning limited prior production into a breakout year as the Panthers’ top target.

Coming out of Port Charlotte High School, Perry was rated a three-star recruit and the No. 188 wide receiver in the 2022 class by 247Sports.

He drew multiple offers during the recruiting process, ultimately choosing Hawaii over Purdue, Old Dominion, Morehead State, and UT Martin.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors wide receiver Alex Perry (0) attempts to pull in a pass over Boise State Broncos cornerback Davon Banks (20) | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

Losing Perry removes FIU’s most proven big-bodied target and top touchdown producer from a passing attack that relied on his size, and after improving to a 7–6 record, its best since 2018, his departure forces the staff to replace elite production through the transfer portal or by developing younger wideouts.

Given his profile, size, contested-catch production, and Florida/Port Charlotte roots, logical fits for Perry include programs that recruit the Southeast and value a jump-ball target, ranging from Group of 5 schools seeking an immediate starter to Power-5 teams in need of wide receiver depth.

Several programs have already been linked to adding a wide receiver through the transfer portal, including Duke, Michigan State, Syracuse, Kentucky, UTSA, and North Texas, all of which are expected to lose receivers this cycle.

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