WVU football loses several important contributors to portal to close 2025

With the transfer portal set to open at 12:01 AM on January 2nd – or just after midnight on Thursday evening/Friday morning, for those counting down – and the holidays like making last-minute transfer portal paperwork a hassle, the West Virginia Mountaineers have seen a final set of players announce their intent to enter the transfer portal. Among that group are several significant contributors and one defensive starter.

On New Year's Eve, the news broke that the sole remaining running back on the roster with remaining eligibility that saw action in 2025, redshirt sophomore Cyncir Bowers, would be entering the transfer portal. Bowers, who rushed for 249 yards and two touchdowns and hauled in eight receptions for 134 yards and one touchdown. He is the sixth running back to enter the portal for the program this offseason, and with his departure the only returning player that remains at the position is Andre Devine, who saw no action last season.

He was joined on Wednesday by the departure of starter along the defensive line, as Hammond Russell IV announced he plans to enter the portal as well. Russell, who made 36 appearances for the Mountaineers over five seasons, started five games in 2025 and finished the season with 13 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble this season.

He was joined by another defensive lineman as well, as Wednesday also saw Elijah Simmons hit the portal. Simmons was a JUCO product who spent just the 2025 season in Morgantown. He played in just one game for the Mountaineers.

These three moves followed a cryptic message from bandit Marshon Oxley on social media, with a picture of him in a West Virginia uniform and the caption "it was fun..." – when pressed in the comments of the post to stay, Oxley indicated the move was outside of his control.

Oxley registered zero starts but played in 11 games for the Mountaineers this past year, and finished the season with 15 tackles (5 TFLs) and two sacks.