True freshman DL Marcus Bradley enters the transfer portal

Vanderbilt defensive lineman Marcus Bradley has entered the transfer portal, first reported by Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports.

Bradley was rated as a four-star recruit at defensive tackle and was Vanderbilt’s highest-rated recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the 247 Sports composite. The freshman had appeared in two games this season, against Georgia and UConn, and hadn’t been seen since, and... well, it’s not that hard to read between the lines here:

“Marcus is a talented person and player that doesn’t quite have the behaviors and habits yet to be an active part of the program,” Lea said. “Until he does, he’s going to have to grow and mature, and we support him in that. But part of changing and transforming an environment is transforming the habits and behaviors that make up that environment, and we have to be really clear on what the expectations are and what a high-performance culture looks like and feels like. We’re waiting on him to be a part of that.”

So, yeah, the top-rated recruit in the 2021 class is gone, and I’m sure there will be more of this kind of stuff over the offseason as Derek Mason recruits who aren’t buying in on Clark Lea will depart the program. Still, you kind of don’t want to lose guys with the kind of potential that Bradley had.