Auburn TE Rico Walker enters NCAA transfer portal

Auburn tight end Rico Walker has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. He spent one year with the Tigers after transferring in from Maryland ahead of the 2024 season.

Rico Walker played in five games this past season with the Tigers but did not record any receiving stats. In eights games the prior season with the Terrapins, he recorded four catches for 27 yards.

The 6-foot-3 tight end played high school football at Hickory (NC), where he was a three-star recruit. He ranked as the No. 419 overall player and No. 18 tight end in the 2024 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The spring transfer portal opened Wednesday, April 16 and will close 10 days later on Friday, April 25. As of this writing, more than 430 FBS scholarship players have entered the transfer portal this month and 3,602 players have entered in the 2024-25 portal.

More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers. That means roughly 25% of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year.

In data gathered over the first two years with transfer windows, the NCAA found most athletes enter the portal within the first four weeks of the portal opening. The study showed that 73% of men’s and women’s basketball undergraduate athletes entered during the first four weeks. That increased to 82% for men and 86% for women in 2024.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Auburn OL Jaden Muskrat, former Tulsa transfer, re-enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Auburn OL Jaden Muskrat has entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal. That news comes per On3’s Pete Nakos on Friday morning.

Over five college seasons at Auburn and Tulsa, Muskrat has appeared in 45 games, including 10 starts, in his career as an offensive tackle. That includes each of the 25 games, with one start, the past two seasons for the Tigers.

Muskrat, a native of Berryhill, Oklahoma, played high school football at Bentonville West in Centerton, Arkansas after previously being at Choctaw (OK). He was a Top-3,000 prospect as a three-star recruit in the 2020 cycle. He also rated as a Top-30 player out of the state of Arkansas. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Muskrat is now the latest transfer during the spring cycle down on The Plains. He’s one of six now with DB CJ Johnson, who entered during the winter period as well, also in. IOL Bradyn Joiner (Purdue), DB Terrance Love (Colorado), CB JC Hart (Utah), and CB Tyler Scott (Georgia State) have also since committed elsewhere in the portal. That’s after adding DL James Ash (Florida A&M), CB Rayshawn Pleasant (Tulane), LB Caleb Wheatland (Maryland), and LB Jay Hardy (Liberty).