Baylor backup QB Jacob Zeno enters transfer portal

Baylor backup quarterback Jacob Zeno has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned.

Zeno, a former four-star recruit from San Antonio John Jay, lost out to Gerry Bohannon in a competition for the Bears’ starting job after serving as the third-string quarterback in 2019 and 2020. Bohannon has since led No. 21 Baylor to a 4-0 start, and threw three touchdown passes during Baylor’s 31-29 win over then-No. 14 Iowa State on Saturday.

Zeno is best known for his work in the 2019 Big 12 Championship Game, when he was forced into action and threw for 159 yards and a touchdown during Baylor’s 30-23 overtime loss to Oklahoma. He also played in the Bears’ 26-14 Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia, stepping in for an injured Charlie Brewer during the fourth quarter and finishing 4-of-9 for 23 yards with an interception.

The Bears face No. 19 Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Saturday.

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.