It's hard to believe, but it has been eight years since the transfer portal became a thing. First opened in 2018, the portal has since become one of the main driving forces in the collegiate sports.
The West Virginia Mountaineers have nabbed up countless players in the portal across two different coaching staffs, and those additions have found varying levels of success in Morgantown. Both others have crashed and burned. Here are some of the biggest busts for the Mountaineers in the portal.
1. JT Daniels
Daniels was a former five-star prospect out of high school, but by the time he reached Morgantown, he had flamed out at USC and Georgia due to injury and was looking for a final opportunity to excel at the Power 5 level. But he didn't manage to achieve those goals.
He started 10 games for West Virginia in 2022, leading the Mountaineers to a 4-6 record as a starter and passing for 2,107 yards and 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He would eventually be benched in favor of Garrett Greene, who would start the next two seasons.
2. Jimmori Robinson
Robinson was the biggest acquisition for the Mountaineers entering Rich Rodriguez's first year back at the helm in 2025. He was the 2024 American Conference Player of the Year after a 10.5-sack season with UTSA.
But his eligibility ended up in question, and getting him eligible to play required a court decision. Even then, he didn't make it onto the field until the fourth game of the season. And once he did, things didn't go as planned – he recorded just nine tackles and 0.5 sacks through nine games.
3. Austin Kendall
After losing out on the starting job at Oklahoma to incoming transfer Jalen Hurts, Kendall entered the portal himself and ended up as Neal Brown's first starting quarterback. He started in 2019, throwing for 1,989 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, leading the Mountaineers to a 5-7 finish.
He would stick around for 2020, but Jarret Doege would end up taking the starting job entering the season, and Kendall would finish the year as the backup before transferring to Louisiana Tech to finish his career.
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