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Transfer Market (Part 61): Yasin Sado & Jonas Price Enter Transfer Portal, Izaiah Steury Returns to Notre Dame & Nicole Vanasse to Join Villanova
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jun 26, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 26, 2024
Our TSR writers are hard at work getting all of the information they can to prepare for our summer cross country rankings. We're also working on a large handful of behind-the-scenes projects to make The Stride Report that much more enjoyable across all platforms!
But until then, we wanted to keep the transfer train running with another series of transfer developments. Below, we explain how these high-level on-the-move athletes could impact their new homes...
Yasin Sado (Transfer Portal)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Virginia standout Yasin Sado has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, the UVA star is expected to hold one season of cross country eligibility and one season of indoor track eligibility. However, the steeplechase All-American is not expected to have any remaining outdoor track eligibility.
Over the last year, Yasin Sado has developed into one of the better overall distance runners in the country. The collegiate veteran had a strong showing at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall (placing 73rd on that stage) before going to the indoor oval where he had a breakout season, recording times of 3:55 (mile), 7:56 (3k) and 13:31 (5k).
Of course, Sado has proven to be the most valuable on the outdoor oval. During the 2024 NCAA outdoor track season, Sado ran a very strong steeplechase time of 8:27 before placing 7th in that event at the outdoor national meet. However, his best performances were yet to come as Sado dropped a monster steeplechase PR of 8:22 at the USA Olympic Trials, allowing him to advance to the finals where he placed 5th overall.
Admittedly, Sado not having any remaining outdoor track eligibility (per TFRRS) does limit the value that he can bring to a new team compared to a few other three-season transfer prospects. Even so, Sado proved over the last year that he is more than just a steeplechaser. And if he is able to carry his momentum to the grass later this fall, then it's not unrealistic to think that he could be an All-American come November.
Given Sado's lack of outdoor track eligibility, it's hard to say exactly where he would land. On paper, a school like Georgetown would make sense from an academic, geographic and skillset standpoint. However, without being able to utilize his steeplechase talent in the NCAA going forward, it's hard to know if that would be the best fit for Sado (although it's certainly still possible).
As a Colorado native, Sado could venture back to the Centennial State, although his best option was likely the Colorado Buffaloes. And as we all just learned on Tuesday, the Buffs are losing long-time coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs this summer.
In the grand scheme of things, Sado is probably the best fit for a cross country-centric program that is looking to make a statement on the grass later this fall. And for the teams that are one piece away from hitting whatever major milestone they're aiming for, this current Virginia ace would be the perfect pick-up.
A large handful of teams within the ACC would perfect sense for Sado, although that assumes that he would be willing to compete against his current team as a conference rival.
Instead, expect Sado to potentially look at schools in the SEC. Tennessee is a southern-based program that has been more willing to add graduate transfers to their roster. And after losing Yaseen Abdalla to the transfer portal, introducing someone like Sado, in addition to D2 graduate transfer Simon Kelati, would mitigate some of the Vols' recent scoring losses.
Ole Miss is another team that has been plenty active in the transfer portal in recent years. The Rebels will likely be looking to give low-stick standout Toby Gillen more help this fall, especially after the Mississippi men faced a challenging 2023 fall campaign. Expect Arkansas to also make a bid at getting Sado as well, especially with the 2024 cross country season looking like an excellent opportunity for the Razorbacks to put themselves on the podium.
Izaiah Steury (Oregon to Notre Dame)
Earlier this week, rising junior Izaiah Steury announced that he will be transferring from Oregon to Notre Dame. It should be noted that Steury originally started his collegiate career in South Bend, Indiana before venturing to Eugene, Oregon last summer. According to TFRRS, he is expected to have three full years of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition.
As just a freshman, Steury was a borderline low-stick for the Notre Dame men, thriving on the grass despite his youth. In the fall of 2022, Steury placed 28th at the Nuttycombe Invite, 9th at the ACC XC Championships and 63rd at the NCAA XC Championships. However, he would not race for Notre Dame during the indoor or outdoor track seasons.
During his time at Oregon, Steury produced admirable marks of 8:01 (3k), 13:53 (5k) and 28:52 (10k). However, it was clear that the Indiana native was not replicating the caliber of the performances that he had produced as a rookie on the cross country course.
Steury's return to Notre Dame is a big one, both for him and for the Fighting Irish. With three years of eligibility remaining, the South-Bend based men are getting back a low-stick-caliber talent who had his best races in a Notre Dame singlet. And best of all, Stuery's eligibility hasn't diminished all that much since he left -- his cross country eligibility (which is where he is the most valuable) is no less than where it was when he left.
When paired with highly promising and still-rising distance talents like CJ Singleton and Ethan Coleman, the return of Izaiah Steury gives the Notre Dame men a slightly more complete lineup going into the fall of 2024.
That's an important development given that scorers such as Vincent Mauri, Tyler Berg, Quinn Gallagher and Jake Renfree are all expected to be out of cross country eligibility (per TFRRS). And while veteran Josh Methner is expected to return based on his remaining eligibility, his injury history makes him more of a wild card contributor than a sure-thing scorer.
But if both Methner and Steury are able to stay healthy and return to their prior peak forms while Singleton and Coleman continue to improve, then Notre Dame could absolutely emerge as a top-10 team, nationally, this fall.
Nicole Vanasse (Columbia to Villanova)
Earlier this week, Joshua Grenade was the first to report via Instagram that Columbia standout Nicole Vanasse was joining the Villanova women, presumably as a graduate transfer. Her Instagram bio confirms the report.
According to TFRRS, Vanasse is expected to have one full year of eligibility remaining between all three seasons of competition. It is also seemingly possible that the now-former Columbia runner may have a second season of cross country, although that is not confirmed.
During her time as a Lion, Nicole Vanasse emerged as one of the more underrated distance runners in the northeast, especially this past year. During the most recent indoor and outdoor track seasons, the future Wildcat produced personal bests of 2:06 (800), 2:43 (1k), 4:11 (1500) and 4:36 (mile). She also won the Ivy League title in the mile this past winter and put together a strong 2023 cross country season where she placed 99th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 12th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships.
On paper, a school like Villanova is a perfect fit for Vanasse. The fringe-Philly-based school is known for prestigious academics and the Wildcats' track team has a history of producing excellent middle distance runners.
Admittedly, the Villanova women have been stuck in roster limbo as of late, boasting a small handful of respectable individuals, but failing to emerge as a nationally competitive group during any season.
Thankfully, the introduction of Vanasse may fix that latter problem as soon as this fall.
With Villanova set to return both Sadie Sigfstead and Emma McGill -- two women who placed in the top-five of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships -- for the 2024 fall cross country season, Vanasse gives her future team a complete top-three. And with the Mid-Atlantic region being one of the less competitive regions in the NCAA during cross country, Villanova could have enough scoring potency to put themselves back on the national stage come November.
It also doesn't hurt that everyone else from Villanova's 2024 regional meet lineup will return in 2024, theoretically setting up the Wildcats to have enough depth to advance to Madison, Wisconsin as a team later this year.
Jonas Price (Transfer Portal)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Oklahoma State's Jonas Price has entered the transfer portal as a standard transfer. According to TFRRS, the soon-to-be-former Cowboy is expected to have two years of cross country eligibility remaining and two years of indoor track eligibility remaining. He is also expected to have at least one year of outdoor track eligibility remaining.
Despite coming into the NCAA as a freshman during a COVID-altered year, Jonas Price has been able to flash moments of exciting promise despite racing somewhat sparingly throughout his college career.
While some of Price's seasons have certainly been better than others, the Washington native still placed 9th at the 2023 BIG 12 XC Championships, 17th at the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships and ran a steeplechase PR of 8:46 at the 2023 Payton Jordan Invite.
When it comes to potential landing spots for Price, one school stands out like a sore thumb.
I am, of course, talking about the University of Washington.
Not only do the Huskies reside in Price's home state, but they also lose a large handful of key names, meaning that scholarship money is likely open to be distributed. The Seattle-based program has typically been plenty active when it comes to signing competitive steeplechase talents in the past and the need for greater cross country scoring was plenty apparent last fall.
On paper, Jonas Price checks all of those boxes.
Other programs such as Oregon and Colorado could be options, but the former is seemingly taking a different approach with their roster construction and the latter just lost famed coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs.
Wisconsin could also be an excellent fit for Jonas Price as well. The Badgers' have often boasted national-caliber steeplechasers on their roster while emerging as a top-tier cross country program.
With low-stick star Jackson Sharp set to leave Madison, Wisconsin and Coach Mick Byrne's group seemingly capable of remaining as a podium threat, adding Jonas Price to this team (albeit, if he's more consistent) could help them accomplish the goal that they missed out on achieving last year -- finishing top-four at the NCAA XC Championships.
