BREAKING: Ohio State transfer WR Caleb Burton commits to Auburn

Caleb Burton, one of the top transfer wide receivers, has committed to Auburn football.

Burton, who is transferring from Ohio State, announced his decision Saturday on Twitter.

“War Eagle!,” Burton wrote on Twitter. “Excited to get to work.”

Burton’s commitment comes less than 24 hours after Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne announced his commitment to Auburn.

Burton visited Auburn last weekend.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Burton said. “I enjoyed talking to everybody and learning a whole bunch of things and really meshed with (wide receivers) Coach (Marcus) Davis.

“Everything I saw was very exciting. It’s a nice campus. I met some of the guys on the team and they seem pretty cool.”

Burton also met with Davis and learned of the Tigers’ immediate need at wide receiver. Playing time, or at least the opportunity for early playing time, is very important to players in the transfer portal. And Burton is no different.

“(The opportunity) is big,” he said. “I know something they’ve been harping on is they need more wide receivers on the team. I think that’s a great opportunity for me.”

Burton, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, did not appear in a game as a true freshman last season due to injuries.

He signed with Ohio State in 2022 as the the No. 160 overall player in the class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, an industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Burton also ranked the No. 28 receiver in the country and the No. 26 overall recruit in Texas.

He has four years of eligibility.

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.

Transfer portal history

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.

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 Consensus recruiting ranking, 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.