Sources: Jaydon Blue expected to enter transfer portal (1/5 update)
True freshman running back Jaydon Blue has apparently had a change of heart.
As of yesterday and as reported by me, Blue was expected to end his time at Texas and enter the NCAA transfer portal.
However, Blue’s intentions appear to have changed.
Roughly four hours after the report that he was expected to portal, Blue tweeted he was “locked in” along with a heart emoji and a photo of him in a Texas uniform.
But to be clear, I stand by my original report. Blue was very much expected to enter the portal when the story was written.
Inside Texas has learned that running back Jaydon Blue is expected to enter the transfer portal.
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Blue, a freshman from Klein (Texas) Cain, played in nine games on various special teams but touched the ball sparingly during the 2022 season. He carried the ball 15 times for 33 yards, mostly in mop up duty. Blue did not see action in the Valero Alamo Bowl, where Keilan Robinson and Jonathon Brooks split time at the running back spot.
Blue would have had heavy competition for a role in the Texas backfield in the upcoming 2023 season.
Texas added two running backs, Cedric Baxter Jr. and Tre Wisner, in the most recent signing period. Baxter, in particular, posed a threat to Blue’s future prospects in burnt orange. Not only is Baxter is ranked as the No. 1 running back recruit in the country by the On3 Consensus but he will also be enrolling at Texas next week and be available for spring practice.
Blue, the No. 180 overall prospect in the 2022 On3 Consensus, sat out his senior season of high school at Klein Cain.
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.
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.
