5: 28 PM ET
ESPN staff
College football‘s transfer portal is now open for the next 15 days. More than 6,000 NCAA football players have entered the portal since the beginning of the 2022 season, including 2,179 last December alone — the most of any month since the transfer portal was created in fall 2018.
The NCAA enacted two transfer portal windows: a 45-day window that started the day after the four College Football Playoff teams were selected in December and a spring window April 15-30.
The first wave of transfers saw many big names change teams, such as former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei finding a new home in Oregon State and Cade McNamara, who led Michigan to the 2021-22 CFP, leaving the Wolverines for in-conference Iowa. Meanwhile, Deion Sanders and Colorado made some big splashes, namely in quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son, and defensive back Travis Hunter, the No. 1-ranked player to enter the portal in the winter.
Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison was the highest-profile player to enter the portal last spring when he left Pitt to go to USC. What will happen this spring?
We’re tracking notable players entering (and exiting) the portal, with the latest news and updates on how the 2023 season could be transformed. The most recent moves are listed at the top.
coverage:
Ranking top winter transfers
Coaches pick transfer winners
Winter transfer class rankings
Auburn linebacker enters portal
Auburn linebacker Desmond Tisdol, who played 24 games in three seasons with the Tigers, has entered the transfer portal. Tisdol had 12 tackles, six solo, in six games for Auburn last season. He was No. 210 in the 2020 class ESPN300.
Georgia defensive tackle to enter portal
Bear Alexander, the No. 56 recruit in the 2022 ESPN 300, told ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren he plans to enter the portal. Alexander had two sacks as a freshman, with one coming in Georgia’s national championship win over TCU. On the season, he played 163 defensive snaps and had nine total tackles.
Auburn WR Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. enters portal
Dawson, a four-star recruit in the 2021 class, played in four games last season, catching two passes for 30 yards. He ran 16 total routes in 2022.
Here are a few more notable portal entries as of Saturday at 1: 30 p.m. ET, including another Auburn player:
Auburn DE Jeffrey M’Ba, who was ranked as the No. 1 junior college recruit in the 2022 class
Maryland OL Keon Kindred, a three-star recruit in 2022
Kentucky DB Vito Tisdale, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL
Texas DE/LB Derrick Brown and LB Trevell Johnson
TCU WR Deshawn McCuin, who played 46 defensive snaps for the Horned Frogs last season
Colorado cornerback Nikko Reed, who had 41 tackles and two interceptions last season
Kentucky cornerback Andre Stewart, a four-star recruit in the 2022 class
Kansas tight end Max Dowling, who is 6-foot-6, 245 pounds
Oklahoma State lineman announces intention to enter portal
Caleb Etienne, Oklahoma State’s starting left tackle left season, announced Friday he will enter the transfer portal when it reopens.
Etienne was one of two offensive players to start every game for Oklahoma State. The 6-7, 330-pound senior was a junior college transfer in 2021, starting three games while preserving a redshirt.
VanHaaren: Is the transfer portal here to stay? Why its debut was ‘chaotic’
The NCAA enacted transfer portal windows for the 2022-23 academic year to try to regulate when players were allowed to enter the portal: a 45-day window from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18 and a second 15-day window that runs from April 15 to 30.
But while the windows were intended to add structure, many coaches and personnel directors from various conferences said dealing with the continuous balancing act of the portal, recruiting classes and bowl preparations, all during the holiday season, made for too much at once.
All-SEC freshman OL to leave Texas A&M
Texas A&M center Matthew Wykoff, who earned All-SEC honors as a freshman in 2022, will enter the portal once it opens Saturday.
Wykoff, 6-6 and 330 pounds, played in 12 games (starting nine) for the Aggies last season, giving up just one sack. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.
NC State QB to be grad transfer
Quarterback Ben Finley played in three games and started the Wolfpack’s last two of the 2022 season, totaling 741 yards, 3 passing touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He led NC State to a double-overtime win over North Carolina but threw two picks in a 16-12 loss to Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Boston College DB in the portal
Cornerback Josh DeBerry, who recorded 4 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 154 total tackles in four years with Boston College, entered the portal as a grad transfer in March.
The 5-11, 177-pound defensive back has tweeted that he has received offers from several programs, including Texas A&M, Arkansas, Coastal Carolina and Wisconsin.
The portal reopens this weekend
Last August, the NCAA implemented two transfer windows to help regulate the college football calendar. The first one lasted from Dec. 5 through Jan. 18, and the second one opens for about two weeks beginning Saturday.