What Makes Jaydn Ott So Special?

It’s been well known that the Sooners had plans to address the running back situation in the spring portal. And address it they did with Cal star running back Jaydn Ott picking the Sooners before the portal even opened on Wednesday. It’s time to take a look at who the Sooners have landed in the highly experienced and highly productive back.

Career Stats: 34 career games (32 starts).
PFF Grade in 2024: 68.5
High: 76.4 – UC-Davis
Low: 54.5 – SMU
Eligibility Remaining: One year + redshirt.

Why he and Oklahoma Make Sense: This one is straight forward, he’s a big-time back who has ability as a receiver and runner. When you mix in that the Sooners have a bevy of backs but none who have yet taken the job and ran with it, it’s hard to argue the fit.

What’s on Tape: Ott has a lot of physical tools to marvel at but it’s his vision and patience are special. Time after time you can see him identify a defender, and either speed up his pace, slow it down, or simply give a stutter step. He’s just so smooth and in control of the proceedings. Blend that intelligent running with power, speed, and ability to be a pass catcher and OU fans can get excited.

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. Essentially, 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. It also notes whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can assign a “do not contact” tag be 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.