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Backup LB LaVonta Bentley among 9 Clemson football players in transfer portal

The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, and that means a significant amount of roster turnover for every college football program in the country.

Clemson included.

Here’s a running list of every Tigers player who’s confirmed they’re entering the portal. The current list of nine includes former starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who officially lost his job to backup Cade Klubnik during Saturday night’s ACC championship game, and multiple top reserves.

College football players have been entering the transfer portal at a record level ever since the NCAA eliminated a rule that required non-graduates to sit out a season at their new program in April 2021. Every player now has a one-time waiver to transfer to a new school without penalty.

The NCAA did crack down on mid-season transfers, though, by approving a new “transfer window” system this August. Under new guidelines, college football players can only formally enter the portal in a 45-day window from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18 and a 15-day window from May 1 to May 15.

LB LaVonta Bentley

Bentley, Clemson’s backup WILL linebacker behind star Barrett Carter, entered the portal Monday. He appeared in all 13 games for Clemson this season and had 20 tackles and a sack.

A redshirt junior and former four-star recruit, Bentley had his most productive season in 2021 when he made two starts and had 30 tackles, including a career-high 13 tackles in place of Baylon Spector against Georgia Tech.

Bentley appeared in 40 career games for the Tigers.

QB DJ Uiagalelei

Uiagalelei officially entered the portal Monday, a school spokesman confirmed to The State. His intent to transfer was first reported Sunday night by 247Sports.

Uiagalelei started all 13 games for Clemson but got benched after two series against North Carolina on Saturday in Charlotte. Klubnik, his backup, played the rest of the game and dazzled with 279 passing yards, two total touchdowns and game MVP honors in a 39-10 win.

Uiagalelei will have two remaining years of eligibility as a graduate transfer. He leaves Clemson with a starting quarterback record well over .500 but a more complicated on-field legacy.

RB Kobe Pace

Pace entered the portal Monday, he announced. The junior split backup duties with sophomore Phil Mafah behind star sophomore running back Will Shipley this season.

Pace had 30 carries for 77 yards and three touchdowns in 2022 and also caught six passes for 35 yards. He missed five games with a high ankle sprain and took a back seat to Shipley (1,110 yards, 15 TDs) and Mafah (476 yards, four TDs) this season after rushing for 641 yards in 2021.

Pace is a former three-star 2020 recruit from Cedartown (Ga.) High.

DE Kevin Swint

Clemson lost a key depth piece along the defensive line when Swint announced his transfer Monday. The junior was listed as a backup defensive end behind starter K.J. Henry on the Tigers’ ACC championship depth chart, and he contributed two tackles in Saturday night’s win over North Carolina.

Swint, a former four-star recruit from Carrollton (Ga.) High, finishes his Clemson career with 21 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks in 33 games.

He played in a career-high 13 games this season and had his first career fumble recovery against Louisiana Tech.

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, center, speaks to wide receiver E.J. Williams, right, during the teamÕs warm up prior to action against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, September 4, 2021. The Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs are battling in the DukeÕs Mayo Classic.
Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, center, speaks to wide receiver E.J. Williams, right, during the teamÕs warm up prior to action against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, September 4, 2021. The Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs are battling in the DukeÕs Mayo Classic.

WR E.J. Williams

Williams became the second wide receiver to leave the program when he announced his intent to transfer Sunday night. Listed as a co-starter at outside receiver with Brannon Spector for the ACC championship game, Williams finished the 2022 season with seven catches for 70 yards.

Williams came to Clemson as the No. 69 recruit in the class of 2020 via Phenix City (Ala.) High and burst onto the scene with 24 catches for 306 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman.

But injuries limited him to eight games in 2021, and he only had one catch for eight yards across Clemson’s last eight games of 2022.

CB Fred Davis II

Davis, who started three games earlier in the season before falling out of the cornerback rotation, announced his transfer Sunday.

Davis had missed Clemson’s last six games, including the ACC championship game, with an ankle injury and only played one defensive snap in his last healthy game. Davis was the former No. 53 overall recruit in the class of 2020.

Davis was also arrested and charged with misdemeanor reckless driving last summer after a crash in which he collided with the rear of a postal worker’s vehicle at 70 mph, according to police reports. Subsequent tests showed Davis’ vehicle was traveling 115 mph when he first applied his brakes 2.8 seconds before the collision.

In a civil court lawsuit filed in October on behalf of crash victim Karen Lorraine Alvarez, Davis and his teammate Malcolm Greene, a fellow Clemson defensive back, were accused of “racing their vehicles” prior to Davis’ car colliding with Alvarez’s postal vehicle on July 21, 2021 on U.S. Highway 123 in Clemson.

Head coach Dabo Swinney said in October that lawsuit filed against Davis and Greene didn’t change their status with the team. Both players faced internal discipline in 2021, per Swinney, and remained with the program this season.

Clemson football’s Billy Wiles at spring practice March 2, 2022.
Clemson football’s Billy Wiles at spring practice March 2, 2022.

QB Billy Wiles

Wiles, a redshirt freshman, announced his transfer Sunday. Wiles and Hunter Helms functionally served as Clemson’s fourth-string quarterbacks in 2022 behind Uiagalelei, Klubnik and Hunter Johnson. Neither attempted a pass.

Wiles walked on at Clemson despite scholarship offers from Tulane, Old Dominion, Harvard and Bucknell, per his bio, and was awarded a scholarship ahead of the 2022 season. He has three remaining years of eligibility.

WR Dacari Collins

Collins, a sophomore, left the team with intent to transfer in September and confirmed in a statement last week he’d be entering the transfer portal.

Collins, a former four-star recruit from Atlanta, caught 16 passes for 221 yards last season while playing in nine games and starting three as a true freshman.

But Collins struggled to find playing time and targets in Clemson’s first three games of 2022 while ceding time to other receivers in a crowded room — especially true freshman Adam Randall, who started taking more and more backup snaps over Collins at outside receiver behind starter Joseph Ngata.

LB Sergio Allen

Allen, a junior, left the team with intent to transfer in September and made it official with a statement Sunday. He was essentially the first player on Clemson’s 2022 team to transfer.

The former four-star recruit struggled to get on the field for the Tigers, registering only 36 defensive snaps across three seasons and 16 games.