Pair of former 4-star Alabama players enter transfer portal

Alabama linebacker Jackson Bratton and offensive lineman Pierce Quick have entered the transfer portal, On3’s Matt Zenitz has learned.

Bratton, a sophomore middle linebacker from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was a four-star recruit out of high school, and he ranked as the No. 22 linebacker (No. 148 overall prospect) in the 2020 recruiting class. Bratton did not play as a true freshman in 2020, and again has not yet appeared in 2021 for the Crimson Tide, perhaps leading to his decision to enter the transfer portal. Zenitz confirmed that Bratton entered the transfer portal Monday morning.

Quick was also a four-star member of Alabama’s 2019 recruiting class, and he entered the transfer portal during his redshirt sophomore season. Quick was the No. 7 offensive tackle and No. 41 overall player in the 2019 class, per On3’s Consensus. A native of Trussville, Alabama, Quick has received limited playing time for the Crimson Tide; he’s appeared in a variety of positions over the course of his Alabama career, and he appeared in just one game this season, logging three snaps in the season opener against Miami.

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.