Why one of the top spring portal entrants at running back remains a free agent

Only 25 FBS players averaged more yards from scrimmage per game last season than Dae Dae Hunter.

Despite being limited to nine games for Hugh Freeze’s Liberty squad last year due to a late-season knee injury, Hunter accumulated 999 yards from scrimmage (an average of 111 per game), a team-high 850 rushing yards, a team-high nine offensive touchdowns and an average of 6.6 yards per carry.

The yards per carry ranked ninth-best nationally among running backs with at least 120 carries.

Yet, more than a month after entering the NCAA transfer portal, Hunter remains a free agent.

With Hunter having already transferred once (from Hawaii to Liberty following the 2021 season) and with him not having graduated as of yet, he’ll need a waiver in order to be eligible to play this season. Without a waiver, Hunter wouldn’t be eligible to play at another school until next year.

“That’s a big part of it,” Hunter told On3.

BYU, California, Ole Miss and Toledo are among the schools that Hunter mentioned having contact with in recent weeks, but the communication hasn’t been anything serious to this point.

Hunter, who ranks as the second-best uncommitted player in On3’s transfer portal rankings, said it’s unlikely he ends up back at Liberty.

“I’m pretty much still waiting to see what school wants to rock with me,” Hunter said. “Either way, when I hit the portal, I knew the risk.”

A Class of 2020 recruit, Hunter still has a redshirt available and then two additional years of eligibility remaining.

Before spending last season at Liberty, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Hunter led Hawaii in rushing with 651 rushing yards while recording an average of 6.4 yards per carry, 163 additional receiving yards and three touchdowns.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

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.

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, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Consensus recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and senior national college football reporter Matt Zenitz’s Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.