Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. Cornell grad-transfer offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad has steadily seen his offer list grow over the last couple of weeks as he has quickly become one of the more sought after players currently available.
Recruiting: Nourzad committed to Cornell over an offer from West Point.
At Cornell: Nourzad started the final 20 games of his Cornell career, having played both right tackle and left tackle. He was a Second-Team All-Ivy League selection as a sophomore in 2019, did not play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was First-Team All-Ivy League this fall. He will have two years of eligibility remaining after he graduates from Cornell in May with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Potential landing spots: The offers have been piling up for Nourzad over the last couple of weeks, with Miami, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Penn State, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Louisville, Syracuse, Purdue, Nebraska, Kansas, Temple, Tulane all offering since November 29th. Other schools that have yet to offer but are in contact include Baylor, Oklahoma, Auburn, Oregon, Tennessee, Colorado, Oregon State, Kansas State, Boston College, UCF, Cincinnati, Florida State, NC State and Vanderbilt.
Farrell’s Take: The Georgia native can play on the left or ride side or at guard and he's nasty on film so it's no surprise to see so many schools interested. Location doesn't seem to play into this as he's looking for the right fit athletically and academically coming from the Ivy League.
Impact Meter: 7.9 out of 10
IMPACT METER
The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and manage their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.
1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.
4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.
6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.
9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.
10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.