BREAKING: Oklahoma State transfer punter Hudson Kaak signs with Auburn

Oklahoma State transfer punter Hudson Kaak has signed with Auburn.

Kaak, who has two years of eligibility, announced his decision Saturday on social media. His decision comes after taking an official visit to Auburn.

Kaak in 2024 punted 30 times for a 43.3-yard average with 11 downed inside the 20-yard line. He also had four punts more than 50 yards.

According to his OSU profile, in 2023 “Played 13 of OSU’s 14 games as a true freshman, splitting time with Wes Pahl … Mainly used as a target punter to pin opponent deep in their own territory … Performed 38 of OSU’s 66 punts on the year with 20 of them downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line … Averaged 39.7 yards per punt … Downed at least one punt inside the 20 in every game he played but one, and the one game he didn’t record it included a return that went from the opponent’s 5-yard line to its 20-yard line … Had two punts go for longer than 50 yards, including a long of 54 yards in the Big 12 Championship game against Texas and a 51-yarder at Iowa State … Had a season-high eight punts at Iowa State … Had a season-high three punts downed inside the 20-yard line against Texas … Played a big role in OSU ranking No. 13 in the FBS in punt return defense, allowing an average of just 2.94 yards per return.”

Before OSU: An Australian-rules football player who came to OSU through ProKick Australia … Played for the Murray Bushrangers of the NAB League, in Wangaratta, Victoria … Attended high school at Seymour College in Seymour, Victoria, Australia … The No. 3 punter in the class of 2023 according to 247Sports.

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.