Kentucky running back enters NCAA transfer portal

The Kentucky Wildcats learned Tuesday that one of their running backs would be entering the transfer portal after three years with Kentucky. Sophomore Travis Tisdale entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, after carrying the ball just one time in 2021.

Kentucky’s Travis Tisdale moving on

The former four-star recruit joined Kentucky as the No. 18 ranked running back in the nation by ESPN. As a senior in high school, Tisdale ran for 1,903 yards and 21 touchdowns.

In three seasons with Kentucky, Tisdale leaves for the transfer portal after recording only 82 yards and a touchdown. As a true freshman, he recorded a 53-yard run in one of the two games he appeared in.

Now, Tisdale is the latest addition to the growing list of players who have entered the 2021-2022 transfer portal list of players.

Kentucky used Chris Rodriguez Jr. most of the season as the leader of their ground game. What touches didn’t go to Rodriguez went to Kavosiey Smoke, with JuTahn McClain emerging as the third option.

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. 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.