Louisiana receiver will enter transfer portal days after denying rumors

Louisiana wide receiver Kyren Lacy has decided to enter the transfer portal, according to a statement on his Instagram page. The news comes just four days after the standout sophomore tweeted a message telling fans not to believe rumors about his departure.

Lacy has 50 receptions over two seasons, racking up 668 yards and 10 touchdowns. He led the Ragin’ Cajuns with six touchdown receptions in 2021 and finished fourth on the team in yards.

Amid rumors of a transfer portal entry, Lacy took to social media on Tuesday afternoon.

“Kill the rumors,” Lacy posted with the hashtags #LetsGeaux and #DontPlay. “Ima Cajun Baby.”

After making the announcement, Kyren Lacy joins a long list of Louisiana players to enter the transfer portal after the departure of head coach Billy Napier to Florida. He joins offensive linemen O’Cyrus Torrence and Kamryn Waites, cornerback Mekhi Gardner, along with running backs Montrell Johnson and Emani Bailey.

Transfer portal information 

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.

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 as 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.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.