Auburn freshman defensive lineman enters transfer portal

Auburn defensive lineman Marquis Robinson has entered the transfer portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. The former four-star recruit spent one season with the Tigers after receiving offers from Alabama, Georgia and several other top programs.

Marquis Robinson decision to transfer comes after he was first recruited by former defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who left with Gus Malzahn’s staff, and worked under outgoing defensive coordinator Derek Mason in his first collegiate season. Rather than adapt to a new defensive staff, he will enter the transfer portal and test his options elsewhere.

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

The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman recorded one tackle in his only game action against Georgia this season.

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

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.