Trevor Etienne posts thank you message to Gator Nation

His career in Gainesville was short. But for Trevor Etienne, there certainly were some sweet moments.

The Florida Gators sophomore running back on Thursday announced he was entering the transfer portal. And in doing so, he posted the following message on X, the app formerly known as Twitter:

“GATOR NATION, WHAT A RIDE IT HAS BEEN! ‘M FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT ON THE ORANGE AND BLUE EVERY SATURDAY, GOING TO WAR WITH MY TEAMMATES WHO WOULD BECOME MY BROTHERS FOR LIFE. WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK COACH (BILLY) NAPIER AND THE ENTIRE GATOR STAFF FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE IN MY TIME AT UF. A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO COACH (JABBAR) JULUKE FOR BEING A GREAT TEACHER, MENTOR, AND ROLE MODEL IN THESE PAST TWO YEARS. YOU’VE UNDOUBTEDLY MADE ME A BETTER MAN BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD. MY TIME AS A GATOR WAS AN INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE AND ONE THAT I WILL CHERISH FOR YEARS TO COME. ‘AT THIS TIME, I WILL BE ENTERING THE TRANSFER PORTAL WITH 2 YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY REMAINING. THE MARATHON CONTINUES.”

Although Etienne technically could return to Florida, sources indicate that scenario seems unlikely at this time.

Etienne is the brother of Jaguars running back Travis Etienne.

Trevor Etienne background and stats

Trevor Etienne was a 4-star recruit in the 2022 class coming out of Jennings, La. He checked in as the No. 20 running back in the country for the On3 Industry Rankings.

Etienne rushed for 753 yards and eight touchdowns this season and added 21 receptions for 172 yards and one touchdown while splitting time in the backfield with Montrell Johnson. Etienne had just one 100-yard game. It came in a win over Tennessee in September at The Swamp when he rushed for 172 yards.

As a true freshman in 2022, Etienne accounted for 719 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He had two 100-yard games.

His career rushing average at Florida: 5.9 yards per carry.

Trevor Etienne figures to be a coved player in the transfer portal.

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.