LSU DT Jalen Lee enters NCAA Transfer portal

In the final days that LSU players can enter the transfer portal, reserve defensive tackle Jalen Lee plans to enter his name into the portal, On3’s Pete Nakos reported Sunday morning. The fifth-year senior played just four games for the Tigers this past season, preserving his redshirt and allowing him to play in 2025 in his sixth year of college football.

Lee transferred to LSU ahead of the 2023 season after three years at Florida here he started four games and appeared in 25. Once he got to LSU, though, he was not able to breakthrough, playing in 11 games with zero starts in two years and two total tackles.

At 6-foot-3 and 296 pounds, Lee is a defensive tackle from Watson, Louisiana who has seen several defensive line coaches in his college career and now he’ll be on the hunt for playing time in his final collegiate season.

LSU also lost Kimo Makane’ole this week, another veteran defensive tackle to the portal. Defensive line coach Brad Davis brought in four freshmen and one transfer to help rebuild the room around Dominick McKinley and Ahmad Breaux moving into 2025.

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When is transfer portal open?

The college football transfer portal is scheduled for 30 days during the 2024-25 academic year. The NCAA Division I Council voted to move from 45 to 30 days in early October.

The portal opened at the end of the regular season, the day after the College Football Playoff field and bowl games are announced. According to the NCAA, the portal will open for business Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, and close on Dec. 28.

The spring window in April remains. The portal will only be 10 days, lasting from April 16, 2025, and shutting down on April 25, 2025. The transfer portal will open for 30 days whenever a head coach leaves their program, allowing athletes to leave and decide on their future, according to NCAA guidelines.

With the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, the postseason will be longer. Athletes on teams that compete in the College Football Playoff and later bowl game will be allowed to enter an additional five-day transfer portal window in January after the portal closes.

More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers. That means roughly 25% of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year.

In data gathered over the first two years with transfer windows, the NCAA found most athletes enter the portal within the first four weeks of the portal opening. The study showed that 73% of men’s and women’s basketball undergraduate athletes entered during the first four weeks. That increased to 82% for men and 86% for women in 2024.

What players can enter transfer portal?

The NCAA pivoted on its transfer portal policy in December when it agreed to terms on a preliminary injunction in the Northern District of West Virginia District Court.

The D-I Council adopted emergency legislation for a new transfer rule this spring. All undergraduate athletes can now transfer and play immediately as long as they meet specific academic requirements. Previously, if an underclassman wished to transfer a second time, the athlete needed the NCAA to grant a waiver to compete immediately. Absent an approved waiver, the athlete had to sit out a year. 

There is no limit on the number of times an athlete can enter the transfer portal. The NCAA sent out memos to institutions twice during 2023-24 stating that multi-time transfers could play immediately in 2024-25 without securing a waiver. Athletes cannot transfer mid-year and play for a new school in the same athletic season.

Changes have been made to grad transfer requirements, too. Athletes can enter the portal at any time during the academic year but must enter before the close of their respective sports’ final transfer windows.