Report: LSU wide receiver will enter the transfer portal

LSU freshman wide receiver Deion Smith plans to enter the transfer portal, according to The Athletic’s Brody Miller. Smith played in five games during his first season in Baton Rouge.

Smith ranked No. 54 in the 2021 On3 player rankings and No. 75 overall in the 2021 On3 composite rankings. The Mississippi native was the top player out of his state and LSU’s best offensive recruit.

Over the course of his freshman season, Smith recorded 11 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns, including a dominant effort with 135 yards and both his touchdowns in an early season game against Central Michigan.

Deion Smith originally chose LSU over Alabama, Ole Miss and others, and enters the transfer portal less than one year after enrolling with the Tigers.

Transfer portal background information 

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a 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. 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 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 sortable by a variety of topics, including sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details like 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 on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be  contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal opened on 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.