Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz announces intent to enter NCAA transfer portal

Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal on Sunday. He revealed the news over social media.

Mertz finished the 2022 season with 2,136 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also threw 10 interceptions.

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— Graham Mertz (@GrahamMertz5) December 4, 2022

Mertz arrived as one of the most-touted recruits of the Paul Chryst era, but failed to get the Badgers back to the Big Ten Championship Game. Wisconsin recently hired Luke Fickell to replace Chryst, who parted ways with the Badgers earlier this season.

Last year, Mertz threw for 1,958 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The Kansas native struggled in certain games, such as when he threw four interceptions in a loss to Notre Dame. However, he helped the Badgers win seven games in a row after starting 1-3. In victories over Iowa, Rutgers, Northwestern and Nebraska, he combined for 705 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

The first start of Mertz’s college career was perhaps his best performance. During the 2020 season-opener against Illinois, he completed 20-of-21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-7 win. Mertz started the game by completing 17 straight passes and eventually set Wisconsin’s single-game completion percentage record (95.2%).

However, the Badgers cancelled their next two games as multiple players, including Mertz, contracted COVID-19. Despite finishing the regular season 3-3, he helped Wisconsin win the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Mertz saw time in two games during his redshirt season. He then replaced quarterback Jack Coan, who suffered a season-ending foot injury before the 2020 campaign.

Mertz played high school football at Mission (Kan.) Blue Valley North, where he was a four-star recruit. He was the No. 57 overall prospect and No. 4 quarterback in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated 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.

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.