Standout Colorado running back enters transfer portal

Standout Colorado running back Jarek Broussard – who rushed for 661 yards and two touchdowns on 142 carries this season – has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Matt Zenitz. Broussard is a former On3 Consensus three-star recruit out of the Class of 2018.

A 5-foot-9, 185-pound back, Broussard put together a pair of strong seasons for Colorado – tallying 298 carries for 1,556 yards and seven touchdowns over the 2020 and 2021 campaigns. In his last outing for the Buffaloes, Broussard rushed for 43 yards on 12 carries against Washington on Nov. 20.

A Dallas, Texas native who prepped at Bishop Lynch High School, Broussard committed to Colorado over offers from Illinois, Tulane, Houston, Colorado State, Arkansas State, Texas State and New Mexico State.

After entering the transfer portal, Broussard posted a statement to his Twitter account.

“First of all I want to thank each and every buff fan for the unmatched support,” Broussard said. “My time here in Boulder was amazing and I’ve built lifelong relationships that will last forever. I graduate from Colorado in May and will forever be a proud Alum.

“With that being said after talking with my family I feel it’s in my best interest to enter the transfer portal. Thanks for everything.”

pic.twitter.com/0sEDX3pdUb

— jarek broussard (@jarekbroussard1) January 13, 2022

Transfer portal background information 

Check out the NCAA Transfer Portal Tracker.

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.