Michigan LB transfer Deuce Spurlock will finish career at Florida
The Gators are hosting a handful of official visitors from the transfer portal this week, and now, another one has officially committed.
Deuce Spurlock, a freshman linebacker from Michigan, just went public with his commitment after spending just over two days in Gainesville. He is the fifth transfer addition for Florida, joining quarterback Graham Mertz (Wisconsin), defensive linemen Caleb Banks (Louisville) and Cam’Ron Jackson (Memphis), and linebacker Teradja Mitchell (Ohio State).
The 6-foot-1, 231-pound Spurlock did not see much time on the field in 2022, having logged his three tackles on the season against Hawaii on Sept. 10, but plays at a position of need for the Gators. He should be in the mix for a starting role along with Shemar James, Derek Wingo, Teradja Mitchell and others.
Auburn, Mississippi State, Washington State and Boston College are some of the additional schools that offered Spurlock in high school.
A native of Madison, Alabama, Spurlock is a former three-star recruit from the class of 2022, per the On3 Consensus. He ranked as the No. 1033 overall, No. 45 athlete and No. 41 senior in the state of Alabama.
What Gators fans need to know about 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. 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. 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 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.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
