College football transfer market heats up around 3,600-yard quarterback

The transfer portal is heating up, but so is the recruitment for a very productive quarterback already on the market. As new players announce intentions to enter the portal daily, one standout QB is already setting up a second visit as he weighs his collegiate future.

At the FBS level, top passers like Brendan Sorsby, DJ Lagway, and Sam Leavitt have just begun exploring portal options. But one of the finalists for the Division II Harlon Hill Award (the rough equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) is moving along with his recruitment.

West Florida QB Maurice Stokes has now set a visit for Memphis on January 10th. He had earlier set a visit for Syracuse on January 3rd. Stokes figures to be one of the top D2 QB options in the portal.

West Florida transfer QB Marcus Stokes will visit Memphis on January 10, his rep @bnm_nil tells @On3sports.

Also has a previously scheduled trip to Syracuse on Jan. 3. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound QB totaled 3,664 yards & 40 TDs this season. https://t.co/woHswjRYH3 pic.twitter.com/dMiUKMQKNA
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 21, 2025

Stokes originally committed to Penn State and then later to Florida, but had his scholarship offer pulled by the Gators. The events surrounding his scholarship being pulled were controversial, as Stokes was reportedly shown rapping along with a song that included a racial slur in a social media video.

With Florida out of the picture, Stokes ended up at West Florida. In his sophomore year at West Florida in 2025, he passed for 3,297 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushed for another 367 yards and 10 scores.

Stokes has been linked with schools including Florida State, Wisconsin, and West Virginia in recent reports. He was a four-star prospect by 247sports out of high school in Florida before the controversy surrounding his recruitment surfaced.

Memphis will lose senior QB Branden Lewis after a solid 2025 season. Charles Huff is set to replace Ryan Silverfield as the head coach for the Tigers after Silverfield took the Arkansas coaching job in the offseason.

Syracuse may have a crowded QB room in 2026. Coach Fran Brown led the Orange to 10 wins in 2024, but saw his team struggle in 2025. Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli played well, but tore his Achilles tendon in week 4 against Clemson. He"ll be a redshirt junior and backup Rickie Collins, who transferred in from LSU and saw most of the snaps in 2025, will also be a junior.

Stokes, given his four-star background and impressive play in 2025, figures to be a competitor for snaps wherever he ends up in 2026. But with a second major school entering the picture, it might be a while until Stokes makes his ultimate portal decision.