Ole Miss to host Michigan State transfer OT Keyshawn Blackstock on official visit

The Ole Miss Rebels are hosting a big-time transfer portal prospect this weekend. The Rebels will be hosting former Michigan State transfer offensive tackle Keyshawn Blackstock this weekend. He recently entered the transfer portal on Oct. 24th. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior will take an official visit to Oxford this weekend, according to Zach Berry of OMSpirit.com.

Former Michigan State offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock is already starting to see the scholarship offers pile up after hitting the portal earlier this week. Blackstock has posted several different offers from an extensive list of Power Five schools on his Twitter page in the past few days. His recruitment has exploded ever since he hit the portal on Tuesday afternoon.

The 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman has already been offered by NC State, Texas Tech, Houston, Pittsburgh, California, Memphis, Nebraska, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Florida, Temple, West Virginia, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisville, and Maryland.

Blackstock’s time with the Spartans was short-lived, as he joined the team from the JUCO ranks this offseason. He began the season as a backup left tackle and appeared in the first four games but has missed the past three.

Blackstock played high school football at Newton (KS), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 6 overall JUCO recruit in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Keyshawn Blackstock’s decision to transfer came after Michigan State fired coach Mel Tucker on Sept. 27. That gave Spartans players a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, and Blackstock did so just a few days before that timeframe was set to expire.

Because he only played in four games this season, Blackstock can use a redshirt for the remainder of this year and keep two years of eligibility wherever he decides to transfer.

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

Transfer portal background information for Keyshawn Blackstock

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.

Track transfer portal activity

While the NCAA transfer portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement.

If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to the On3 Transfer Portal.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Consensus recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and senior national college football reporter Matt Zenitz’s Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

On3’s Chandler Vessels also contributed to this article.