SMU DL Stephon Wright enters NCAA Transfer Portal
SMU defensive lineman Stephon Wright entered the NCAA Transfer Portal as a graduate transfer, sources told On3 on Monday. Wright, who will have one year of eligibility remaining, did not play this season for the Mustangs, but wasn’t facing any discipline or injury issues.
The former Arizona State defensive lineman played in five games during the 2022 season and missed a majority with an injury. In those appearances, Wright recorded 15 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Wright played high school football at Los Angeles (Calif.) Cathedral, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 200 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.
SMU’s preparing for what’ll be another busy run in the transfer portal as the program moves to the ACC next year. With a potential AAC Championship Game berth on the line, it’s a tough balance.
“It’s hard for the staff. We’re mostly locked in on the game, the best thing you can do for recruiting is win,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said last week. “We have a really good recruiting department player, personnel staff and our graduate assistants, our analysts. There’s a bunch of people that are evaluating stuff. The thing about the portal that’s funny, you don’t even know who’s available. You don’t have a clue until it happens in two weeks or whatever. Then you have to react versus the high school world where you kind of at least know who’s available.
“So it’s kind of a, you’ve got to wait till it happens and then it’s just a hard three weeks. Last year we were playing in a bowl game during that window, who knows when or how we’ll be playing this year. That’s part of it. You just kind of lace up your shoes tight and go to work.”
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.
