Eastern Michigan starting quarterback Ben bryant entered the transfer portal, 247Sports learned.
Bryant arrived in Eastern Michigan this offseason from Cincinnati and quickly secured the starting position for the Eagles. The 6-3, 214-pound Illinois native has 3,123 yards and 14 touchdowns on seven interceptions this season while completing 68.4 percent of his passes. Bryant started for Eastern Michigan on Dec. 18 in a 56-20 Lending Tree Bowl loss to Liberty. Bryant finished this game with 200 yards and one interception.
A former three-star rookie, Bryant signed with the Bearcats out of high school as part of the Class of 2018. He chose Cincinnati over offerings from programs like Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Bryant donned a red blouse as a true freshman in 2018. He still has two years of eligibility left. Bryant is not listed as a graduate transfer, according to a source.
The NCAA introduced the transfer portal on October 15, 2018, providing athletes with a way to explore their options. Players do not need to seek permission from their coaching staff to complete a transfer. They just have to ask for the conformity between their name. Usually, it takes 24-48 hours for a player to appear following their request. Schools are free to contact a player without restriction once their name appears in the portal.
While a player entering their name on the transfer portal means they intend to explore their options, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will leave. A player is free to withdraw his name at any time. However, schools are not required to keep a scholarship player once they access the portal.
There were 2,646 FBS players to enter the transfer portal during the 2020-21 transfer cycle, according to a source. This represents an increase from 1,692 in 2019-2020 and 1,717 in 2018-2019.
This increase can at least in part be attributed to the new NCAA policy that student-athletes are allowed to transfer once in their careers without having to spend a year in residence. This means that all players entering the transfer portal for the first time will be immediately eligible at their new school as long as they meet an NCAA mandated entry deadline.