Raion Strader and Marques Watson-Trent grew up with dreams of playing in front of jam-packed stadiums in college football’s most significant games.
“It was something I always dreamed of,” Strader said, “playing on the big stage in front of the big crowds.”
“You want to play this game at the highest level,” Watson-Trent added.
The problem was that neither Strader, a Penn Hills graduate, nor Watson-Trent, a Blackhawk graduate, were being wooed by major programs when they were being recruited in high school. Strader’s lone offers were Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. Watson-Trent had a few more than that, but no offers from Power Four schools after Louisville pulled its scholarship offer following a coaching change.
But in what is a new era of college football, the transfer portal has been a game changer for many athletes, giving them free movement from school to school with immediate eligibility. Strader and Watson-Trent have taken full advantage of it. Following last season, Strader transferred from Miami (Ohio) to Auburn, where he is expected to be one of the team’s top cornerbacks. Watson-Trent transferred from Georgia Southern to Nebraska, where he is considered among the team’s best linebackers.
“It’s huge,” Watson-Trent said. “It’s like a second opportunity, a chance to prove you are who you say you are. With the transfer portal, some people feel like people are dodging competition, but the most important thing is putting the right guys in the right spots. My mom always taught me, ‘If you’re a talented player, they’re going to find you.’ Someone like myself getting this opportunity, I think it’s amazing.”
What’s also amazing is that there is a former WPIAL or City League player on rosters at a whopping 24 Power Four schools this season, including nine Big Ten schools and five in the SEC. There will be local products playing all around the country at schools like Alabama, Southern California, Florida State and Arizona State. And it’s the transfer portal that’s a big reason why.
“It’s awesome,” Levi Wentz said. “I always tell these guys [about Western Pa.] because people always say they’re from the best area. I tell them, ‘We have this little section of Pennsylvania, and we produce dudes. None of you other guys can compete with that.’”
Wentz is a Pine-Richland graduate who is in his first season at Kansas. Wentz, a redshirt senior, earned a start at wide receiver in the Jayhawks’ season-opening win against Fresno State last week. The fact that Wentz wasn’t highly recruited out of Pine-Richland wasn’t a surprise. After all, he played only one season of high school football. It was a good one, though, landing him offers from Old Dominion, Army and Navy despite the fact that he was so new to the sport.
Wentz’s college football journey has included stops at FBS Old Dominion (two seasons) and FCS Albany (two seasons). Wentz has also changed positions a few times, going from cornerback to safety to outside linebacker and now receiver. He put forth his best season yet in 2024, finishing with 40 receptions for 621 yards and a touchdown.
For Wentz, closing out his career playing for a Power Four school was a big deal. Wentz said he had about 15 to 20 offers and took visits to James Madison, Liberty and North Texas before deciding on Kansas, which he said had a need that fit his skillset to perfection.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” Wentz said. “I’ve obviously bounced around different positions and found my niche at wide receiver. I’ve learned so much about the game. It’s cool to be an older guy but to have that young mind when it relates to the game. I have grown a lot, and I continue to grow and learn.”
Strader is one of five graduates of WPIAL or City League schools now playing in the SEC. Three of the others are also transfers — Westinghouse’s Dayon Hayes, a defensive end at Texas A&M; Central Catholic’s Bralen Henderson, a defensive tackle at Missouri; and Washington’s Chase Mitchell, an offensive lineman at Vanderbilt who is in his second season with the Commodores. Hayes made previous stops at Pitt and Colorado, Henderson at Ohio, and Mitchell at Liberty. North Allegheny’s Peter Notaro, a freshman kicker at Alabama, is the only non-transfer at an SEC school.
At Miami (Ohio), Strader was one of the MAC’s top cornerbacks the past two seasons, and last season finished with 53 tackles, 2 interceptions and 19 pass breakups. But Strader looked for a bigger challenge, so he hopped into the transfer portal following the season.
“Coming into that third year, I wanted to get to a bigger stage and hopefully make this a three-year thing,” said Strader, whose brother, Oobi, is a standout quarterback at Pine-Richland. “I want to see where my ceiling is. I felt like I had so much more left in the tank.”
Strader’s second recruitment looked much different than the first, as he collected 30-plus offers, many to Power Four schools. He visited both Ole Miss and Auburn before picking the Tigers.
Auburn opens the season Friday night at Baylor, and Strader believes he is well prepared after going head-to-head with the Auburn wide receivers each day in practice. The group includes Cam Coleman, a former five-start recruit considered one of the nation’s best.
“It keeps me on my toes every day,” Strader said. “If you’re having an off day or not using your technique, they’re going to capitalize easily.”
Like Strader, Watson-Trent was ultra-productive playing at the Group of 5 level. A two-time first-team all-Sun Belt Conference pick, Watson-Trent was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last season after collecting 118 tackles, including 7½ for loss, and forcing four fumbles. He ranks second on Georgia Southern’s all-time career tackles list.
Watson-Trent yearned to play at a higher level, though, so he decided to go portaling in the offseason. As was the case with Strader, this was a much different recruitment than his first, with some heavyweights throwing their name in the hat. Florida State was among his visits, but Watson-Trent ultimately decided on Nebraska.
“I was looking to play in the Big Ten Conference,” he said. “As we’ve seen with Michigan and Ohio State [winning national titles in back-to-back years], it’s a conference on the rise. In my opinion, it’s the toughest conference in the United States. I wanted to play at a high level but also wanted to go to a good school.”
Watson-Trent isn’t the only WPIAL product in Lincoln, Neb. Sto-Rox graduate Adam DiMichele is an assistant coach and Jeannette graduate Anthony Johnson is a recruiting coordinator.
There are also former WPIAL or City League players on rosters at eight other Big Ten schools. Quite a few are transfers, among them Brashear’s Ta’Mere Robinson (Penn State/Southern California), Pine-Richland’s Miguel Jackson (Charlotte/Utah State/Northwestern), Perry’s Tyreese Fearbry (Kentucky/Wisconsin), Steel Valley’s NiJhay Burt (Eastern Illinois/Michigan State) and Thomas Jefferson’s Jordan Mayer (Wisconsin/Penn State).
Among the local players who have transferred to Power Four schools since last season, Hayes is expected to have one of the biggest seasons. Texas A&M is ranked No. 19 in the country, and Hayes is one of the team’s top defensive ends. He came to College Station from Boulder, where he spent one season playing for Deion Sanders and with Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter at Colorado. Hayes, though, played in only four games after suffering a season-ending ankle injury.
“I loved it there,” Hayes said. “Me and Coach Prime were cool. Me and Travis were close. It was fun. I’m glad I went there. [Sanders] brings a lot of people down there. The networking is the best. I loved it.”
But Hayes was ready for a new challenge this season and chose to enter the transfer portal for the second year in a row. A prized recruit coming out of Westinghouse, Hayes spent his first four seasons at Pitt.
“God has blessed me in a lot of ways,” Hayes said. “Every time I got in the portal, I was a big fish. Everyone wanted me. Even when I got hurt at Colorado.”
Hayes had options but decided on Texas A&M, where he is one of the oldest players on the team. He turned 24 on Tuesday. “They call me ‘Unc.’ I think it’s funny,” he said. Hayes said he sought the right fit and that collecting the biggest NIL check possible was not the goal.
“NIL is something you think about, but I don’t chase money,” Hayes said. “Other places were going to give more. I chase coaching staffs and teams. I won [an ACC] championship at Pitt. I know what it takes.”
In all, there are 63 former WPIAL or City League players at 24 Power Four schools this season, a number that includes walk-ons. So if you turn on the television and flip to a game, there’s a decent chance a former local star will be playing.
“It’s a great thing, and I’m just glad to be part of it. We put the city on the map,” Strader said. “It’s something that we started and the younger ones took off with it. We started building it, and now we’re moving South, Midwest and West Coast. We did it all.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.