Former Michigan State DB Michael Dowell re-enters transfer portal despite recent commitment
Former Michigan State safety Michael Dowell, who was in the NCAA Transfer Portal, recently announced his commitment to play for the Pittsburgh Panthers. But just weeks after his commitment, Dowell is back in the portal, he announced via Twitter on Thursday.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances I will not be attending University of Pittsburgh,” Dowell tweeted. “I am still in the transfer-portal looking for a destination. I am a grad transfer S/OLB with 2 years of eligibility left. Contact me for further information/interest.”
While it is unknown what the “unforeseen circumstances” are, Dowell’s re-entrance to the transfer portal is surprising. Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi even tweeted a graphic on New Year’s Eve, showing that Dowell was signed to play for the Panthers.
Dowell finished the season with 39 tackles, including 25 solo stops, to go along with three passes defended for Michigan State. In his 31 career games with the Spartans, he had 81 tackles, 0.5 sacks, five passes defended, and one fumble recovery. He was a redshirt junior this season.
Transfer portal background information for Dowell
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.
Top 10
- 1Hot
Kirk Herbstreit
Shot fired at First Take, Stephen A. Smith
- 2New
Ohio State vs. Oregon odds
Early Rose Bowl line released
- 3
Updated CFP Bracket
Quarterfinal matchups set
- 4Trending
Paul Finebaum
ESPN host rips CFP amid blowout
- 5
Klatt blasts Kiffin
Ole Miss HC called out for tweets
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
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.