Former four-star CB surprisingly enters college football transfer portal

The regime change at Penn State appears to have produced its first outgoing player, as a former four-star cornerback prospect plans to enter the college football transfer portal.

Defensive back Elliot Washington II is seeking to enter the portal for next season, according to a report from CBS Sports this week.

That would mark the first player to exit the Penn State program after it hired Matt Campbell to become its next head coach after firing James Franklin in October, putting an end to a 50-plus day search that attracted criticism to the school.

The transfer portal will open on Jan. 2, but players are allowed by rule to announce their intention to enter the portal and leave their previous schools.

What he accomplished

Washington had 18 stops with 4 pass defenses and 1 interception in 12 games this past season while playing 256 snaps on defense, the fourth-most among Penn State corners, according to PFF.

His biggest play came in the game against Iowa, when the defensive back scooped up a blocked field goal and returned it 35 yards to give Penn State a lead.

In total, Washington had 53 tackles with 1.5 negative stops while breaking up 11 passes and intercepting 2 more while averaging 27 snaps per game, although that number decreased in the second half of the season.

What schools could land him?

Alabama and Michigan State were involved in the Washington recruitment prior to his commitment to Penn State as part of the 2023 football recruiting class.

Washington was named as the No. 42 player in the country and the 13th ranked safety, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

Alabama could emerge as a possible landing spot, given Washington was committed to the Crimson Tide for almost six months prior to his choosing the Nittany Lions.

How the college football transfer portal works

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.

A player can enter their name into the transfer portal through their school's compliance office.

Once a player gives written notification of their intent to transfer, the office puts the player's name into the database, and they officially become a transfer.

The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player's request and NCAA rules forbid anyone from refusing that request.

The database includes the player's name, contact information, info on whether the player was on scholarship, and if he is a graduate student.

Once a player's name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player, who can change his mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.

Notably, once a player enters the portal, his school no longer has to honor the athletic scholarship it gave him.

And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school doesn't have to give him another scholarship.

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