Kadyn Proctor describes transfer process, journey back to Alabama: ‘Home away from home’

Alabama is Kadyn Proctor‘s home away from home, he said after the Crimson Tide’s fall camp practice on Wednesday.

It’s where the offensive tackle feels most comfornable, which is why he returned to Tuscaloosa after transferring to his home state Iowa Hawkeyes earlier this offseason. One of the main reasons he cited for transferring away from Alabama earlier this offseason was that he was homesick.

“Obviously, I’m away from my family but sometimes there are sacrifices you have to make to be happy,” Proctor said.

The offensive lineman recalled that about a month or two into his freshman season, Tuscaloosa started feeling like it wasn’t the place for him. However, Proctor said that’s in the past, and him and head coach Kalen DeBoer have talked it out upon his return to the program.

“I had apologized because I knew that when he first came here, his first week here, first couple of days, I really wasn’t giving him a chance,” Proctor said. “And I just kind of started that conversation with an apology because I really felt bad. I kind of had my mind set on leaving and [was] not really listening to what he had to say to me.”

Proctor said a few Crimson Tide teammates reached out to him during his transition back into the program. He said those are the types of relationships that will last a lifetime. Now, he’s right at home under DeBoer in Tuscaloosa.

Some believe that Proctor’s transfer situation is a preview of a tumultuous future within college athletics in the transfer portal. Recent rule changes have allowed no limit to student athletes wanting to enter and re-enter the portal as they like. Leaving one team to join another, only to rejoin their previous school all in the same offseason is just one scenario that can play out under there rules.

Proctor offered some advice to student-athletes across who feel as though the transfer portal is the only option for them.

“Do you really, truly believe that this is the right thing for you?” he asked. “You’ve got to look and give the coaches a chance. You have to sit down and listen to the coaches and what they have to say and what the people got to say too because it’s a big change, for sure. I kind of — I messed up on that.

“I would just tell people, really, really sit down and think, [get] people that you trust around you, and let them know how you feel.”