4/30/2022 football Edit

ASU defensive lineman Jermayne Lole enters the transfer portal

Hod Rabino • ASUDevils

Publisher

Longest tenured beat writer for Arizona State football and basketball, and a Website Publisher since 2001.

Last year’s preseason first-team All-Pac-12 selection not shutting the door for a return to Tempe

ASU fans anxiously waited to see defensive lineman standout Jermayne Lole back in action on their home field after last seeing him playing in Sun Devil Stadium on November 30, 2019. Playing with no fans in attendance during the 2020 COVID-19 season, as well as a fall camp triceps season-ending injury last summer, only further delayed his much-anticipated return.

With Lole entering the portal, Arizona State followers may very well never see him again donning the maroon and gold as the lineman announced that he has entered the portal. As expected, the junior did so by the May 1 deadline to retain immediate eligibility for the 2022 season.

Not only has Lole been sidelined last season and participated in a very limited capacity during this past spring practice, but off the field, he has endured the hardship last year of losing both his father and brother due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial hardship placed on Lole and his family was certainly an element that the active market of NIL here and elsewhere could alleviate.

Talking to sources close to the situation, Devils Digest has learned that both a NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) collective from ASU, as well similar collectives from other Pac-12 and SEC schools have reached out to Lole to enter an agreement. Those sources said that Lole’s entrance into the portal doesn't necessarily translate into an immediate departure from the Arizona State, yet that some of the other NIL collectives that have reached out to Lole could win a bidding war.

Lole transferring out would be a significant blow not only to the ASU front four but the entire Sun Devil defense as the team’s most talented returning player. Furthermore, the transfer portal entry of Omarr Norman-Lott, Lole’s backup at 3-technique tackle, this weekend does create depth challenges for this role. During his ASU tenure, Lole has posted 123 tackles, 11 sacks, and 20 tackles for a loss, as well as eight passes, defended. Following the 2020 season, he was named Pro Football Focus Preseason All American First Team Defensive Line and was the highest-graded defensive interior player in the Pac-12 following that campaign.