In the current landscape of college football where players are moving teams more than ever in the transfer portal, reporting on college recruiting has become an incredibly difficult job. But on Wednesday, Alabama transfer Damon Payne and his agency made things even more difficult with his commitment to Michigan, which was voided in the span of only a few hours.
Payne, who is a former five-star defensive lineman in the midst of his junior year at Alabama, saw the field rather sparingly this season, recording just 14 total tackles in the eight games he saw action.
On Tuesday, Payne announced his intention to enter the transfer portal. And it didn’t take him long to seemingly narrow down his ideal landing spot, sending in his papers to commit to Michigan on Wednesday morning according to Pete Nakos of On3 Sports.
However, just three hours later, Nakos offered an update detailing how the documents that Damon Payne had signed had been nullified by his agent.
This obviously raises a question as to whether there was an inaccuracy in Nakos’ reporting on the matter, or if there was some loophole found by Payne’s agent that made his signed documents to Michigan non-binding.
Well, Isaiah Hole, who covers Michigan for the USA Today Sports Network via Wolverines Wire, backed the reporting from On3 Sports, detailing in a series of posts on X how Payne had signed but his commitment was voided by his agency.
“This had nothing to do with On3’s reporting,” wrote Hole. “To clarify: Payne signed, it has been voided. On3 reported correctly.”
Payne’s agent, Steven Fantetti, did offer a vague clarification on the matter in a statement to On3 Sports, detailing just that Payne has not yet signed with any school and will release his commitment “under his own terms soon”.
“Damon Payne is not currently signed with any school, and he will be releasing his commitment under his own terms very soon,” Fantetti said in his statement.
As for where Payne could be headed once he does commit to a school for real, Michigan reportedly remains on his list of teams he is still considering, along with Notre Dame, Oregon, and even a potential return to Alabama.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.