Alabama defensive lineman Stephon Wynn enters transfer portal

Alabama defensive lineman Stephon Wynn has entered the transfer portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. The former four-star prospect from the class of 2018 enters 2022 as a redshirt senior looking for a new home which can provide regular playing time.

Stay up to date on the latest news with On3’s Transfer Portal Wire.

Over four seasons at Alabama, Stephon Wynn appeared in 12 games before opting to enter the transfer portal. He recorded 16 tackles over his time in Tuscaloosa, primarily playing as a reserve.

See the top available prospects with On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings.

Wynn came to Alabama as the No. 85 ranked player in the On3 Consensus. The South Carolina native, who played high school football at IMG Academy, also ranked No. 10 among defensive linemen and No. 20 in the state of Florida.

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.

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.