Oregon tight end Terrell Tilmon announces intent to enter NCAA transfer portal

Oregon tight end Terrell Tilmon plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, he announced Sunday via Twitter. A three-star prospect in the 2021 class, Tilmon played all 14 games, mostly on special teams, as a true freshman, but appeared in just one game in 2022.

His entrance to the transfer portal will also come with a change in position, as he stated he plans to move from tight end to outside linebacker at his next stop.

“First off, I’d like to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play collegiate football,” he wrote in his tweet. “I’d like to thank the University of Oregon for everything it’s done for me and for all of the lesson I’ve learned here. I want to thank the entire staff and my teammates for making it an experience I will carry for the rest of my life.

“With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal as an outside linebacker with three years of eligibility remaining.”

Luv Oregon🦆✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/3fUMI2ZOGx

— Trell🍐(Slim Predator) (@TTilmon16) December 5, 2022

Tillmon was recruited as an edge defender coming out of high school, where he ranked as the No. 453 overall player in the 2021 class according to On3 Consensus. He totaled six tackles during his true freshman season.

Below is some background information on the transfer portal to keep in mind as Terrell Tilmon makes his decision. To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

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. 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.