Oklahoma cornerback Justin Harrington enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Oklahoma cornerback Justin Harrington has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos and Sooner Scoop’s George Stoia. He will have at least one year of eligibility remaining.

Harrington originally came to the Sooners as a junior college transfer ahead of the 2020 season. He was considered one of the top JUCO prospects moving up to the FBS level during the 2020 cycle.

After redshirting his first year at Oklahoma, Harrington played four games in 2021 and all 13 in 2022. He played a pair of games in 2023 as the starter at the “Cheetah” position in the Sooners defense before sustaining a season-ending injury.

In 19 total games playing for the Sooners, Harrington has a pair of interceptions and 29 total tackles. At 6-foot-3 and around 215 pounds, Harrington brings rare size to the corner position and has the versatility to play in a more hybrid role in the box near the line of scrimmage.

Harrington played high school football at Southeast Raleigh (N.C.) High School, where he was a unrated prospect in the 2018 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Background on the 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 is done 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 and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

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 no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such asynchronous contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.