Texas A&M, former Troy OL Derrick Graham enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Texas A&M offensive lineman Derrick Graham has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. He will have at least one year of eligibility remaining.

Graham transferred to Texas A&M this winter after spending the first three years of his career at Troy. He featured in all 14 games for Troy during the 2023 season after bouncing between starting and playing as a sixth offensive linemen to start his career.

Now after spending spring practice with the Aggies, Graham is back on the open market.

Graham played high school football at Lake Minneola (Fla.) High School, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 2475 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

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.

Texas A&M had another recent portal departure

linebacker Alex Howard entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3 Sports confirms. The veteran will look for a new school after going through spring.

Howard started his career at Youngstown State and transferred to Texas A&M back in December. Last season, Howard finished with 36 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks and one interceptions.

As a member of the Class of 2019, Howard was not ranked, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Howard has one year of eligibility remaining as he enters the portal.

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.