Oklahoma State defensive back, four-year starter enters transfer portal

Oklahoma State defensive back Jarrick Bernard-Converse has entered the transfer portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. The former three-star recruit started 47 consecutive games for the Cowboys, but will use his free year of eligibility given by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic elsewhere.

Jarrick Bernard-Converse enters the transfer portal after fellow Oklahoma State defensive back Tanner McCallister did so earlier this offseason. The later has already committed to Ohio State, where he plans to reunite with former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

Over four seasons with the Cowboys, the 6-foot-2 Louisiana native made 195 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions. He also added 7.5 tackles for loss and 24 pass deflections over this career. Despite arriving in Stillwater, Oklahoma with little fanfare, Bernard-Converse won the 2018 Russell Okung Award for most outstanding newcomer and made an impact ever since.

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 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.

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.