Miami wide receiver Key'Shawn Smith hits NCAA transfer portal

Miami wide receiver Key’Shawn Smith hit the NCAA transfer portal on Monday, the first official day for non-graduates to enter. He had 13 catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns this season, as well as 14 yards on three carries.

The San Diego, California native redshirted his first year on campus before having a breakout year in 2021. He posted 33 receptions for 405 yards and three touchdowns as the ‘Canes went 5-7. He was third amongst receivers in 2021 but dropped to seventh in 2022.

Smith was a three-star prospect coming out of Lincoln (San Diego) High School in the 2020 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound wideout will have three years of eligibility remaining to play two seasons at his next stop. Since it is his first transfer, he’ll be immediately eligible for whichever team he chooses to join.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portalwire. 

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 starts with the 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.

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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.

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 for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate the communication.