Texas A&M RB LJ Johnson Jr announces his intention to enter the transfer portal

Texas A&M redshirt freshman running back LJ Johnson Jr. has announced he will be leaving Texas A&M and entering the transfer portal when it opens Dec. 5.

“I would first like to thank God for allowing me to play college football at the highest level. I would also like to thank Coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff for believing in me and providing me with an opportunity to play the game I love,” he said in a statement. “I will forever cherish my time spent in College Station and I’m truly blessed for all of the relationships that were developed during my time here. Aggieland and the 12th man are amazing. Thank you to all my family and friends who supported me during this process. After extensive prayer and discussion with my family, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal.”

Johnson played in six games this season, rushing for 39 yards and two touchdowns on ten carries and played in four games in 2021, totaling 76 rushing yards and a 14-yard reception prior to redshirting.

Johnson was a four-star recruit in the 2021 class out of Cy-Fair (Tex.) High. In three seasons, he rushed for over 4,350 yards and 77 touchdowns along with 430 receiving yards. He was rated the No. 57 prospect and the No. 5 running back in the country in the 2021 recruiting cycle. This season he played behind Devon Achane, Amari Daniels and true freshman Le’Veon Moss.

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.

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.