Tennessee DB John Slaughter plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Tennessee defensive back John Slaughter plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Hayes Fawcett. He will have two seasons of eligbility remaining.

Slaughter contributed six tackles and an interceptions for the Volunteers during his two seasons on campus. Most of his production came during his sophomore season, where he logged five of those tackles along with the interception.

Before college, Slaughter was a three-star recruit according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 584 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class, and the No. 54 safety.

He chose the Volunteers over the likes of Florida State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and a handful of other programs. He is a Mississippi native, so it remains to be seen if he chooses to remain near home, or explore his options elsewhere.

Slaughter was in the same recruiting class that produced former Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava made headlines when it came out that he was set to enter the transfer portal over the weekend after Tennessee and Iamaleava’s camp were unable to hash out contract details regarding NIL earnings. Iamaleava has since transferred to UCLA, where he is expected to be the Bruins’ starting quarterback for the 2025 campaign.

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

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Paul Finebaum reacts to Nico Iamaleava transfer decision: ‘UCLA is not a safe haven’

Following his departure from Tennesseedue to an NIL dispute, Nico Iamaleavaappears to be heading to Westwood. The Athletic reported he is expected to commit to UCLA, and Paul Finebaumreacted to the decision afterward.

Finebaum noted Tennessee likely didn’t plan on parting ways with Iamaleava before the NIL issues arose. On3’s Pete Nakos reported the two sides were in active negotiations before the former five-star quarterback missed the following day’s practice. He then decided to enter the portal on Wednesday with a “do not contact” tag as the window opened.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.