Kentucky wide receiver enters NCAA Transfer Portal

The Kentucky Wildcats have one game remaining in the season with the Citrus Bowl against Iowa. However, a senior on the offensive side of the ball will not be participating.

According to Matt Zenitz of On3, Kentucky wide receiver Isaiah Epps has entered the transfer portal. He has played in 32 career games, starting in three, dating back to the 2017 season.

Throughout his time in Lexington, Epps recorded 23 career receptions for 277 yards. His best season came in 2018, where the then-sophomore was able to haul in eight catches for 76 yards.

Epps was rated a three-star prospect coming out of high school on the On3 Consensus. Being a native of Jenk, OK, he was a top 15 player within the state but his only other Power Five offer came from Illinois.

Transfer portal background information for Epps, Kentucky Wildcats

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.