Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs enters transfer portal

Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs has entered the transfer portal, he shared on Twitter Monday.

A second-year freshman, Gibbs rushed for 746 yards and four touchdowns in the 2021 season, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Meanwhile, he was a frequent contributor in the receiving game, reeling in 35 catches for 465 yards and two more touchdowns. He finished the regular season ranked third in the FBS in all-purpose yards with 150.4 per game.

Gibbs was Georgia Tech’s starting running back in 2020, his true freshman season, but did not burn a year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 blanket waiver granting an additional year of eligibility. Last year, he was limited to playing in just seven of the Yellow Jackets’ 10 games due to injuries, but was still an All-ACC honorable mention as a return specialist, as well as a second-team freshman All-American (The Athletic). He led Georgia Tech in all-purpose yards in 2020 with 968, while scoring seven touchdowns.

“After a long and hard process and talks with my family, I have decided to enter the transfer portal. I have loved my time here at Georgia Tech. I have made lifelong friends with my teammates and coaches, especially Coach Choice,” Gibbs wrote, in part. “Thank y’all for believing in me … Love you all and wish nothing but success.”

Gibbs was tabbed a four-star recruit in the class of 2020 by the On3 Consensus, good for the No. 8 running back in his class. A native of Dalton, Georgia, Gibbs in high school chose Georgia Tech and said the decision really came down to Georgia Tech and Florida.

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.