Auburn reportedly showing interest in former TCU WR Jordan Hudson

AUBURN — One of the positions where Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze feels like help is needed is the wide receiver position. During spring camp, Freeze didn’t hold back. He mentioned wanting to see more development from the receivers.

Then, on the first day of the spring transfer portal window, sophomore Tar’Varish Dawson announced his intentions to transfer. Dawson didn’t exit spring in position to start, but seemed poised to provide quality depth this fall. Dawson has since committed to Cincinnati.

That brings us to former TCU wide receiver Jordan Hudson.

Hudson has been one of the most coveted prospects in the transfer portal this offseason. A former four-star recruit in the 2022 cycle, the 6-foot-1, 190 pounder has no shortage of options when it comes to making a decision in the portal.

Hudson is hearing from quite a few schools, and one of those is Auburn, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Jordan Hudson is currently ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect in On3’s 2023 Transfer Portal Rankings. Last season, he hauled in 14 catches for 174 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Jordan Hudson played high school football at Garland (TX) High, where he was rated as a four-star prospect in the class of 2022 by the On3 Industry Rankings, which generates a weighted average of all the top recruiting services. He was also ranked as the No. 70 overall player and the No. 9 receiver in his cycle.

Former TCU WR Jordan Hudson tells me he has heard from these schools since entering the Transfer Portal 👀

Hudson was ranked as a 5-Star in the ‘22 Class. The 2nd best available player in the portal rankings.

Where Should He Go?https://t.co/qo82D1lPO6 pic.twitter.com/xgrIq1YrVg

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 22, 2023

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

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 Industry Recruiting Rankings, 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.