Remember the Alamodome.
Brandon High Jr. certainly took that to heart when he entered the transfer portal for the second-consecutive season. The former UTSA running back transferred to California last offseason. But after one season in Berkeley, the Spring, TX native returned to his original home in San Antonio. High is a Roadrunner once again.
High spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with UTSA, accumulating 509 rushing yards and eight touchdowns during his first stint. Nearly all of that production transpired in his breakout 2024 campaign where he split carries with Robert Henry Jr. on the nation’s 12th-ranked yards per game offense. High averaged 5.3 yards per carry en route to a 495-yard season (second on the team) where he attained at least 60 yards and a touchdown in five of 12 appearances.
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In the 2024 Myrtle Beach Bowl domination of Coastal Carolina, High registered a career-high 103 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, fueling the Roadrunners’ 44-15 win on the teal turf of Conway, SC. After that contest, he packed his bags west to California where he backed up Kendrick Raphael. In one season as a Golden Bear, High collected 98 yards and a touchdown, with all of his production transpiring prior to October.
High was limited by injuries from October and onward and was thus only limited to five games at Cal. He returns to San Antonio where he reunites with his old head coach Jeff Traylor and quarterback Owen McCown. High rejoins a running back room headlined by his former (and current) teammate Will Anderson III, who produced 866 rushing yards and six touchdowns on a 6.9 average in 2025. At the time of High’s transfer on Jan. 9, the Roadrunners are slated to retain backups A’Marion Peterson and Bryson Donnell, forming an experienced group of tailbacks in San Antonio.
Boomerang transfers like High aren’t unheard of in this modern era of the transfer portal. For instance, Ohio running back Sieh Bangura played for the Bobcats from 2021-23, took a brief pit stop at Minnesota, and returned to Ohio for 2025 where he produced a 1,392-yard, 15-touchdown season. High eyes something similar at UTSA, hoping his return to San Antonio sparks his best year to date.
