USC lands transfer commitment from Georgia defensive lineman Bear Alexander

Former Georgia defensive lineman and highly-regard transfer Bear Alexander has committed to USC he announced per his social media.

He played in 12 games a true freshman in 2022, helping the Bulldogs to their second straight national championship. The 6-foot-3 defensive lineman had nine tackles, two sacks and 13 QB hurries.

In the title game versus TCU, he had a sack and two tackles for loss.

WeAreSC’s Erik McKinney broke down why that production from Alexander at Georgia proves USC has filled a big hole for the Trojans and also added to their continued focus on building depth in the front seven and in their ability to recruit defensive talent at the same time.

“This is obviously a huge commitment for USC at a real position of need. Head coach Lincoln Riley said the defensive front seven was a focal point for the Trojans this offseason and they continue to overhaul that group,” McKinney said. “They’d already taken huge strides there with the additions of Anthony Lucas, Jack Sullivan, Kyon Barrs, Jamil Muhammad and Mason Cobb. But Alexander looks to be on another level based on what he did last year at Georgia.

“Riley has obviously proven he can attract elite offensive talent. USC needed to prove it can be a destination for big-time defensive players. It’s done that with the addition of Alexander.”

Alexander had announced his decision to transfer on the day of Georgia’s spring game, April 15. He entered the portal two days later, along with Shone Washington as well as linebacker Rian Davis.

Alexander hopped around to four different high school before settling at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy as a senior. A four-star prospect coming out of high school, he was the No. 43 overall recruit and No. 7 defensive lineman in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

On3’s JD PicKell spoke at length about what this pickup would mean for the Trojans:

pic.twitter.com/Xw3VXUqExE
HUGE pickup to help with an area of need for the Trojans https://t.co/ZfpALM9gtU

— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) April 23, 2023

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.

Track transfer portal activity of players like Bear Alexander via On3

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.