BREAKING: Liberty transfer edge Stephen Sings commits to Auburn
Auburn football has added another transfer edge rusher to its 2023 roster.
Stephen Sings, who is transferring from Liberty, announced his commitment to the Tigers on Saturday. Sings’ commitment comes soon after a visit to Auburn.
“To play on a higher level has always been my dream,” Sings told Auburn Live. “God gave me the opportunity, so I had to hop on it.”
Hugh Freeze is very familiar with Sings. So is Josh Aldridge. The two signed Sings at Liberty in the 2020 class. They both played a major role in Sings’ decision.
“The coaching staff was a big factor,” he said. “I love the coaches. They make it feel like home.”
Sings, who is from Zebulon B. Vance High School in Charlotte, N.C., has two years of eligibility.
As a freshman in 2020, Sings saw action in 10 games. He totaled 10 tackles, seven solos, three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. In 2021, Sings finished with 25 tackles, including 13 solos, one sack and a fumble recovery. As a junior in 2022, he had 13 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Sings, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds, is the second transfer edge rusher to commit to Auburn this spring. The Tigers already have signed Appalachian State transfer edge Jalen McLeod.
Transfer portal background 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. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
More on the portal database
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 recruiting cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.
