It was hard for Myles Price to leave Texas Tech.
The wide receiver built strong bonds with his teammates throughout his four years with the Red Raiders. But deep down, Price wanted a new opportunity. So he entered the transfer portal after the season, and he landed at Indiana.
“Leaving them (former teammates), there’s days I still wake up and I’m still kind of shook about it and hurt about it, cause the bond that I had with them, it was something special,” Price said. “It was hard. But it was something that I had to do. And it’s working out.”
Price now finds himself in a crowded room in Bloomington. He’s one piece of an extremely revamped IU receiving corps, which has quickly become one of the team’s most intriguing position groups.
The Hoosiers lost their second and third-leading receivers from last season in the offseason in DeQuece Carter (graduated) and Cam Camper (transfer portal). They did bring their top receiver, Donaven McCulley, back from the portal, and promising underclassman Omar Cooper Jr. also returns, among others.
But IU’s transfer portal additions at receiver give the team a bevy of experience, returning production, and depth at the position. And it’s forged competition on the field throughout spring camp.
“Everybody wants to be in, everybody wants to make plays, everybody wants to be the guy that makes that play to end practice or something like that. So I think that’s just a blessing to have, honestly. Because when you have to compete, when it becomes game time, it’s almost like second nature, like it’s nothing to me,” Price said. “So I think just having that competitive edge, everybody wanting to be the guy, that’s a blessing to have in the room, because not everybody around the country has that.”
The Hoosiers brought in four veteran receivers out of the portal, from multiple backgrounds. Price, now a fifth-year senior, finished fourth on the Red Raiders last season with 410 yards on 43 catches, with a team-high five touchdowns. Fifth-year senior Ke’Shawn Williams also comes in with power-conference experience at Wake Forest, where he finished third on last year’s team with 384 yards on 38 receptions with a touchdown.
Senior Miles Cross brought existing familiarity with quarterback Kurtis Rourke, as they played together at Ohio. Cross was the Bobcats’ second-leading receiver with 617 yards on 47 catches, with a team-high five touchdowns. For a quarterback who’s spent his time in Bloomington thus far getting acclimated to new teammates, coaches, and a new system, that sort of rapport could be big.
Elijah Sarratt boasts the most production of any of the four, with 1,191 yards last season on 82 receptions with eight touchdowns at James Madison. So not only did he come to IU already familiar with Curt Cignetti, Mike Shanahan, and their staff, but he was their top receiver last season. Sarratt can line up out wide or in the slot, giving the Hoosiers a versatile weapon.
With that much experience in the room, in addition to the returnees, there are only so many reps to go around. Sarratt, like Price, felt that’s brought out a strong mentality from the group this spring.
“Just working, competing, getting better every single day,” Sarratt said. “No spot’s guaranteed. We know we got a lot of work to do, and we’re getting better each day.”
As it stands, IU will have a lot of mouths to feed in its offense this coming season. Things could always change, with the spring transfer portal window open — further roster activity can never be discounted.
The spring game could provide an early look at how the receiver competition is shaping up going into the summer. But whether or not a hierarchy is clear at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, Indiana has plenty of options who will continue battling into fall camp.
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