Former Florida player Fenley Graham enters transfer portal

Now-former Florida Gator Fenley Graham is on the move. According to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, the defensive back — who had recently switched sides of the ball to become a wide receiver — has put his name in the transfer portal and will be quickly trying to find a home before preseason practices really ramp up.

Didn’t the deadline for entering the transfer portal while maintaining 2022 eligibility pass some time ago? Yes. However, Graham’s situation is a bit different. Obviously, the Gators made a coaching change at the end of last season. However, as summer workouts progressed, new coach Billy Napier decided to part ways with several players, effectively forcing them to transfer.

Fenley Graham was one of the guys who involuntarily had his time with Florida cut short by the new coach. A real shame for Graham.

He should have plenty of suitors, though. Graham was a three-star recruit and a top-40 cornerback in the 2020 class, per the On3 Consensus. Just sucks that he has to pack up and change schools unannounced in the middle of preseason training.

More on Fenley Graham

By Nick de la Torre

Fenley Graham was a fan favorite. The former Lakeland star was a menace with the ball in his hands for the Dreadnaughts. He had a hard time finding the field during his first two seasons. Then he moved from safety to receiver in the spring. Coaches described him as a “developmental player.”

“He’s an athlete and a lot of these guys played both ways in high school or their entire life,” Keary Colbert said of Graham during spring camp. “Yes, he’s been in the defensive back room and backpedaling and stuff, but when you’ve got natural good athletes like Fenley, they can transition over and it’s like riding a bike. They get back into the groove of running routes and he’s been doing a good job of adjusting.”

Unfortunate for Graham that he ultimately became a scholarship cap casualty as new coach Billy Napier needed to cut several guys in order to get below the scholarship cap of 85. Which he is allowed to do according to NCAA laws. See below.

NCAA Bylaw 15.5.1.7 is named “Aid After Departure of Head Coach.” It, essentially, allows a first-year head coach to not invite an athlete back to the team the following year.  The athlete may, however, be given the right to stay at the school on scholarship until the athlete graduates with their degree.