The Big 12 Conference’s football offseason is already well underway, and now with the football season officially over for the league, we can start looking to who’s coming back (for now) and who’s leaving. With the Big 12 Champion Arizona State Sun Devils fresh off their Peach Bowl game, players had a few days after the game to decide whether or not they would stay in Tempe or enter the transfer portal.
And on Friday, one critical piece announced his return to the Sun Devils. Starting left tackle Josh Atkins shared on social media his return for the 2025 football season.
Atkins was a three-star prospect by ESPN and 247Sports and top-150 offensive tackle prospect in the Class of 2021 coming out of Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas.
Related: This is Why Players Want to Play for Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State
He spent his first two seasons with the Houston Cougars where he did not see any action. Then he transferred to Hawaii for the 2023 season and started 13 games, playing 888 snaps, the sixth-most of any offensive lineman in the Mountain West Conference.
According to Chris Karpman at Sun Devil Source, the Sun Devils could end up with four starting offensive linemen returning. With all the pieces expected to return, the Sun Devils will be a trending pick to repeat as Big 12 football champions in 2025.
The transfer portal officially opened on Monday, December 9, 2024, and was open until Saturday, December 28, with an exception for players on teams who play bowl games after the window closes. According to NCAA data, 2,273 FBS football players entered the transfer portal in 2023-24 school year, with 1,558 (68.5%) undergraduates and 715 (31.5%) graduate transfers. Of the entrants, 57% reported that they enrolled in another school, 8% withdrew their names from the portal, and 35% are still active, transferred to a non-NCAA school, or left their sport.
The Heartland College Sports Twitter account is an excellent resource for keeping up with the latest Big 12 news and announcements. Make sure you check out our HCS member forum to connect with other Big 12 sports fans.
