LSU running back Corey Kiner enters NCAA Transfer Portal

The LSU Tigers have lost Corey Kiner, the team’s second-leading rusher last season, to the NCAA Transfer Portal. Kiner tweeted the news on Monday morning.

Kiner was LSU’s second leading rusher last season with 324 yards and two touchdowns on 79 carries, averaging 4.1 yards per rush. The Tigers’ leading rusher from last season, Tyrion Davis-Price, is in the 2022 NFL Draft. John Emery returns this season after sitting out last year, and he is now poised to lead the backfield. The Tigers also added Penn State transfer Noah Cain.

Kiner would have been engaged in a loaded competition for touches in the LSU offense, but it now appears that he’s heading elsewhere and entering the transfer portal. He will immediately become one of the top running backs in this year’s transfer portal cycle.

“I want to start off by saying that I really do appreciate the opportunity that I had to come develop myself academically and athletically at LSU,” Kiner said. “I am so grateful for all the friendships and bonds that have been created during my time here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Thank you to all the staff members who I have encountered athletically and academically you have helped me to take a step forward in my life.

“My time as a tiger has come to an end, I would like to start a new chapter in my life and explore my options to continue my career as a student-athlete elsewhere. With this being said I would like to announce that I have placed my name in the NCAA Transfer Portal.”

💯🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/9LpgkJzALM

— Corey Kiner (@CoreyKiner) April 18, 2022

Kiner is currently dealing with a high ankle sprain, according to LSU head coach Brian Kelly. He is expected to be sidelined multiple weeks. But now, when he returns it will likely be in somewhere other than Baton Rouge.

“It seems like a high ankle sprain,” Kelly said. “The early indications are that’s gonna be about 2-3 weeks.”

Transfer portal background information for LSU

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.