Arizona State sophomore wide receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton and junior offensive lineman Spencer Lovell are no longer part of the Sun Devil squad. Bunkley-Shelton announced on Twitter that he’s will be departing the team but, at press time, wasn’t in the transfer portal. Lovell, on the other hand, did enter his name in the portal on Thursday afternoon. These two now bring up the tally of ASU scholarship players entering the portal since the end of the 2021 season to 14.

The loss of Bunkley-Shelton isn’t only the fifth wide receiver departure since last year but is even more significant in terms of loss of returning production. Nearly a week ago, ASU's leading wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (48 receptions and 580 yards) entered the portal, and months prior to that, the team's second-most productive wide receiver running back Rachaad White (43 receptions, 456 yards), declared for the NFL draft. Bunkley-Shelton, prior to today, was the most productive receiver set to come back, hauling in 33 catches for 418 yards.

Lonyatta (Junior) Alexander, Geordon Porter, and Johnny Wilson are the other scholarship wide receivers aside from the aforementioned tandem who entered the portal since last year. Senior Bryan Thompson, who posted 13 catches and 130 yards in 2021, is the team’s returning leading wide receiver. The Sun Devils were already expected to be plenty active in the transfer portal landing wide receivers and could add up to four wide receivers to join the five scholarship wide receivers currently on the roster.

Junior offensive lineman Spencer Lovell played well during spring practice and, for most of the 15 sessions, was the starter at right guard. However, SDSU transfer Chris Martinez did, towards the latter part of spring, provide stiffer competition in this role and did take some first-team reps. Furthermore, the addition of Iowa State transfer Joey Ramos following spring was going to provide even stiffer competition in this position battle. Lovell played in 28 games during his four years in Tempe.

Any player entering the transfer portal prior to May 1st will be immediately eligible to play in the fall, so it’s not out of the question that we could see some other players announce their departure over the weekend due to that NCAA rule. Players who have already earned their degree can transfer at any date and still be immediately eligible this season.