Vanderbilt defensive veteran Alston Orji enters NCAA transfer portal

The Vanderbilt Commodores are losing a defensive veteran following the spring season. Senior linebacker Alston Orji hit the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday after four seasons in Nashville, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Alston is one of two Orji brothers on the Vanderbilt defense. His brother, Anfernee, is a starter for the Commodores, also at linebacker. Alston Orji posted 21 tackles in 2021 and 43 over the course of his four seasons.

The Orji brothers have another brother, Alex, who signed with Michigan as an athlete in the 2022 recruiting class. The elder brothers played for Rockwall High School but their younger brother played for Sachse High in North Texas. Alex was a four-star prospect and No. 405 in the nation, according to the On3 Consensus, while Alston was No. 215 in the 2018 class.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker will be immediately eligible to play at his next school thanks to new NCAA rules.

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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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid.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.