SMU WR Lonnie Johnson enters NCAA transfer portal

SMU wide receiver Lonnie Johnson entered the NCAA transfer portal. He spent just one season with the program.

Johnson was recruited as a wide receiver, but was a converted tight end this past season. However, Johnson did not see any game action.

As a member of the Class of 2023, Johnson was a three-star recruit out of Fort Worth (Texas) Timber Creek, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 245 overall prospect in the state, the No. 237 wide receiver in the class and the No. 1,495 overall prospect in the class.

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

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.