Alabama safety enters NCAA transfer portal following spring practices

Nick Saban’s team hasn’t been immune from change this spring. On Monday, Alabama Crimson Tide safety Kaine Williams became the fourth player to enter the NCAA transfer portal this month, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Williams, a member of the Tide’s No. 1-ranked 2021 recruiting class, played just special teams snaps in his first year in Tuscaloosa.

The Marrero, Louisiana, native was a four-star prospect coming out of John Ehret High School. He chose Alabama over offers from two dozen other Division-I programs, including the LSU Tigers. Williams was the No. 245 recruit in the country, No. 16 at safety and No. 9 in Louisiana, according to the On3 Consensus.

The freshman defensive back will be immediately eligible to play wherever he goes next with four years to play four seasons.

Also leaving Alabama this spring are Agiye Hall, Caden Clark and Stephon Wynn.

Williams enters packed transfer portal

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal goes through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to reoffer a scholarship.