Back on Dec. 11, Michigan had its first scholarship player enter the transfer portal. Sophomore running back CJ Stokes announced he would be entering his name into the portal — assumingly hoping to go somewhere to receive more playing time.

Most of the time when a player enters the portal they are done playing with their current team, regardless of where that team is at in the season.

But to a minor surprise, Stokes announced on social media that he would be staying with the team through the College Football Playoff — while remaining in the transfer portal.

The 5-foot-10 running back from Columbia (SC) has three years of eligibility remaining. Stokes made an instant impact with Michigan during his true freshman season in 2022. It looked like Stokes was going to be running back No. 3 behind Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards during his freshman campaign.

He played in 11 games carrying the ball 55 times for 273 yards and a score. His playing time started winding down toward the end of ’22 and gave way to Kalel Mullings and then-walk-on Isaiah Gash to gain more carries.

This season, Stokes saw just two games of action and carried the ball four times for eight yards.