BREAKING: USC transfer DL Isaiah Raikes commits to Auburn
USC transfer defensive lineman Isaiah Raikes has committed to Auburn football.
Raikes, who has one year of eligibility remaining, announced his decision Monday on social media. He is the second transfer defensive lineman to commit to Auburn during the spring portal window, joining Indiana transfer Philip Blidi, who committed to the Tigers on Sunday.
Raikes did not visit Auburn in the spring, but isn’t completely unfamiliar with Auburn. He visited the Tigers in January during the winter portal window before ultimately choosing USC. However, he apparently was unhappy with his decision and re-entered the portal in April.
In 42 games at Texas A&M, Raikes had 43 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. In 2023, he had 17 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack in 12 games.
Raikes attended St. Augustine Prep High School in New Jersey, where he was a four-star recruit in the 2020 class. He was the No. 392 overall recruit in the country and No. 9 in New Jersey, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also ranked the No. 45 defensive lineman.
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.
