Arkansas punter Reid Bauer announces he will enter transfer portal

Arkansas punter and holder Reid Bauer plans to enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, he announced Tuesday evening via Twitter. Bauer has been with the Razorbacks for the past five seasons and become the first Arkansas Player to win the Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award in 2021.

“I have been living out my childhood dream these past 5 years and I cannot believe how fast those years flew by,” Bauer wrote in his tweet. “I will forever cherish the memories I have made with all of my teammates, especially all the specialists I have played with.

“I want to thank coach Tanner Burns for recruiting me to play for the Hogs. I also want to thank coach Pittman and coach Fountain and all the other coaches for developing me into the man and player I am today. Lastly, I want to thank my family for all of their love and support. Through the ups and downs, they were always there for me and non of this could have been possible without them.”

Excited to announce I will be entering the transfer portal as a grad transfer with 1 year of eligibility. Thank you Arkansas for some of the best years of my life, I will forever be a hog! pic.twitter.com/tVbq6qlnH7

— Reid Bauer (@reidbauer70) November 30, 2022

Bauer committed to the Razorbacks in 2018 out of Magnolia High School in Magnolia, Texas. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Below is some background information on the transfer portal to keep in mind as Reid Bauer makes his decision. To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

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.