OU lands Michigan State tackle Spencer Brown in transfer portal

OU has its first commitment from the transfer portal: Michigan State offensive tackle Spencer Brown.

BREAKING: Former Michigan State OT Spencer Brown has Committed to Oklahoma, he tells @on3sports

The 6’6 310 OT chose the Sooners over USC, Ole Miss, & others

Will have 1 year of eligibility remaining https://t.co/Sc5kqF9F17 pic.twitter.com/KxYtHCBVJ6

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 6, 2023

Brown chose the Sooners over several Power Five schools, having one year of eligibility remaining. He played in 32 games for the Spartans, making 24 starts at right tackle. He comes to Oklahoma where the Sooners will have to replace both starting tackles in Walter Rouse and Tyler Guyton. It’s assumed that redshirt freshman Jacob Sexton will be OU’s starting left tackle. Brown will have the opportunity to win the starting job at right tackle.

“I wanted to become a part of one of the blue bloods of college football,” Brown told On3’s Hayes Fawcett. “I feel as if coach Venables and coach Bedenbaugh are tremendous coaches and can make me an overall better player, teammate, and person off of the field.”

At 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, Brown certainly has the size to be a key contributor on Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive. And he could play a similar role to that of Rouse, who played one season for the Sooners.

Here’s what SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuistion had to say about Brown:

“Brown is a big run blocker that uses his strength to turn and manipulate defensive ends. He has some bend and shows signs of having more to his game than the Spartans put on tape. All in all, he’s an experienced power 5 starter and it shows.”

NCAA Transfer 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 begins. 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 short, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship.

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.

Track Transfer Portal Activity

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. That activity includes basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Consensus recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.