FSU lands Bethune; Knights to lose receiver

The NCAA Transfer Portal shuffle continues to churn late Tuesday, with UCF losing another player and watching another who’d previously announced his departure land in Tallahassee.

Former UCF linebacker Tatum Bethune reunited with former Knights defensive coordinator Randy Shannon at Florida State.

UCF true freshman wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala entered his name into the portal, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.

Bethune shared the news on social media with a photo of himself in a Seminoles’ uniform with the statement, “Let’s do it!”

The Miami native spent three seasons at UCF, where he signed as part of Josh Heupel’s 2019 recruiting class. He appeared in 28 games, including 12 this season, finishing with a team-high 108 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble.

Bethune becomes the seventh transfer to commit to Florida State. He joins offensive linemen Bless Harris (Lamar) and Kayden Lyles (Wisconsin), receivers Mycah Pittman (Oregon), Johnny Wilson (Arizona State) and Deuce Spann (Illinois) and cornerback Jamie Vance (Louisville).

Shannon, who joined Mike Norvell’s coaching staff as a senior defensive analyst in 2021 for

FSU, was promoted to linebackers coach in December. At UCF where he was linebackers coach, Shannon recruited Bethune while he was at Miami Central.

Mokiao-Atimalala played in every game for the Knights, making one start at wide receiver. He caught 12 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown. He also returned a team-high 13 punts for 95 yards.

The 4-star prospect from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, finished his high school career as the fourth-leading career receiver in Hawaii prep history with 170 receptions for 2,915 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Mokiao-Atimalala committed and signed to UCF while the Knights were without a full-time head coach. He gave his verbal pledge to UCF three days after Heupel departed for Tennessee and signed with the Knights two weeks before the hiring of Gus Malzahn.

That move was made in large part because of good friend of Mokiao-Atimalala — former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel, also from Hawaii.

Gabriel, however, entered his name in the portal following the regular season. He had committed to UCLA, but on Monday he flipped to Oklahoma to reunite with former UCF quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby.

It’s unclear why Mokiao-Atimalala is transferring or his next destination but there’s a good chance he could up at Oklahoma to join Gabriel.