BREAKING: New Mexico State CB Syrus Dumas commits to Auburn

New Mexico State transfer cornerback Syrus Dumas will finish his college career playing for Auburn football.

Dumas, who originally is from Homewood, Ala., told Auburn Live on Sunday that he’s locked in with the Tigers.

“I’m committed to Auburn,” he said. “I’m locked in. Being from Homewood, this is an Alabama kid’s dream. I had to scratch and claw to get here, so now I have the opportunity to play at Auburn and I’m taking it.”

Dumas is expected to visit Auburn on Monday. He’ll get to meet more with defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge.

“That’s my coach,” Dumas said. “I like him and respect him. I grew up watching him and know who he is and what he’s about.

“I’m excited and my family is excited that I’m transferring to Auburn.”

Dumas, who previously was committed to UTSA, has two years of eligibility. He spent the past two seasons at New Mexico State where he played in 20 games total, tallying 83 tackles, including 61 solos and eight tackles for loss. He also had four interceptions and 15 pass breakups.

His best season came in 2022 when he had 44 tackles, 35 solos and two interceptions. He was named Phil Steele second-team All-Independent and College Football Network first-team All-Independent.

Dumas, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, signed with New Mexico State in 2021 after spending the 2020 season at Independence Community College in Kansas.

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.

More on the transfer portal database

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 recruiting cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.