Nic Scourton is heading to College Station.
While most of the college football world is fully focused on the impending national championship game between Michigan and Washington, yet another domino has fallen in the seemingly never-ending saga that is the transfer portal era. In one of the first big moments of the new Mike Elko era at Texas A&M, former Purdue edge rusher Nic Scourton has announced that he is transferring to College Station.
BREAKING: Former Purdue EDGE Nic Scourton has Committed to Texas A&M, he tells @on3sports
The 6?4 285 EDGE totaled 10 sacks in 2023, which led the Big Ten
Ranked as the No. 9 Player in the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings ?https://t.co/5Vh5yyCuPs pic.twitter.com/pjqff8n6ZS
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 4, 2024
Purdue has fallen victim to the transfer portal in a move that will be seen as an early blow in the chess match between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, considered to be the country's "Power Two" conferences as realignment progresses. Scourton, who just finished his sophomore season at Purdue, led the Big Ten with an even 10 sacks this year, an impressive feat in a conference loaded with defensive talent. Losing him to the SEC is definitely not what the conference's higher-ups would like to see, although offensive line coaches across the Big Ten will certainly be sighing in relief.
Scourton was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, but he's the eighth-highest-graded player in the 247 transfer rankings, and ninth according to On3, which helped to break the transfer news. He's one of the most valuable defenders in the portal, and he's a major acquisition as Elko begins to build up the program from the state in which he inherited it.
This move also marks a homecoming for Scourton, who hails from Bryan, Texas, a town that shares a border with College Station. He'll be performing in front of a home crowd each week, which will surely be a great experience for the rising talent. That makes his transfer all the more significant for Elko and the program: Texas is a phenomenal state for high school football talent, and pulling the best of those players to College Station will surely be one of his top priorities as the program's new leader.
