Arkansas defensive back entering transfer portal

Arkansas is losing a key piece of their secondary to the transfer portal. According to On3’s Matt Zenitz, Razorbacks defensive back Joe Foucha is leaving the program.

“Arkansas defensive back Joe Foucha has entered the transfer portal, On3 has learned,” tweeted Zenitz. “Had 72 tackles and an interception this season.”

In a statement released on social media, Foucha officially announced his intentions.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, for the ability to play the sport I love at such a high level. I would also like to thank Coach Cooper and Coach Morris for bringing me to the University of Arkansas,” he wrote. “To Coach Pittman and his staff, thank you for the continued support and development. To every teammate that took me in as a brother and a friend, I am beyond thankful for you, and I will always cherish the memories we’ve made. To the academic and training staff, thank you for all your instrumental help and guidance. And finally, to all of the amazing Razorbacks fans, thank you for you unwavering support through thick and thin.

“I am forever grateful! With that being said, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.”

Foucha was proud to be a member of the Razorbacks. At his next stop, he’ll look to continue to advance his football career.

More on Joe Foucha, transfer portal

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.