‘Tis the transfer portal season, and it couldn’t have gotten off to a more odd start for Alabama football.
The day the portal opened Monday, Alabama had two entries: Tyler Buchner and Thaiu Jones-Bell. Only one entered as a football player, though. Buchner, a Crimson Tide quarterback, went into the portal as a lacrosse player.
A standout in high school who was once committed to Michigan, Buchner’s decision to leave as a lacrosse player will give him the chance to become immediately eligible and play at another school because UA athletics doesn’t offer lacrosse.
Otherwise, he would have to sit out a season for football having already used up his one-time transfer. It’s not every day you see a sport switch like that.
Expect the rest of Alabama’s portal entries to be as football players. Let’s start with that piece of confidence. Otherwise, it can be difficult to make statements of absolute certainty when it comes to anything related to the transfer portal.
Everything else seems to change daily and even hourly sometimes. When there’s NIL money involved, expect the unexpected, to an extent; A player who seems like a certainty to stay could end up surprising and enter the portal.
Early indications out of the program are that there won’t likely be a mass entrance into the portal before the Rose Bowl for Crimson Tide players who plan to place their names into the portal.
They have until Jan. 2, the day after the game, to officially enter the portal. Once in, they have however much time they need to decide on their next school.
They just have to be in the portal by that date to be able to transfer. Players could make up their minds to exit well before then but stay through the Rose Bowl.
Then their official portal entrance might not happen until Jan. 2. After all, programs can use their scholarships as they see fit once players enter the portal.
Still, some players could decide to enter sooner than Jan. 2, as Buchner and Jones-Bell did. Just expect that to be a slow drip, if any, rather than the dam breaking.
