Wisconsin fans, commentators, and Badgers reporters have been talking about the death of the transfer portal thanks to Xavier Lucas. He created his own path out of one school and into another, and now there's another player doing the exact same thing. There was already a problem with Xavier Lucas's actions, but now it's spreading to another player named Jake Retzlaff. Unless the NCAA takes action, it will become a consistent way for players to avoid commitments and evade punishments.
Jake Retzlaff is leaving BYU in the similar manner to Xavier Lucas without actually transferring
If you're unfamiliar with Xavier Lucas's story, here's a quick rundown: Lucas signed an agreement with the Badgers, but then Miami came in through the back door (which is now prompting Wisconsin to sue the Canes for tampering). He then tried to enter the transfer portal, but Wisconsin said, "No." Since he had signed an agreement to play for them, Lucas decided to instead just un-enroll from Wisconsin and enroll at Miami and then play as a "walk on." It's a loose way to use the term "walk on" since he's getting paid, and the money will more than compensate for the tuition costs.
It's a mess, and Wisconsin is in the middle of litigation with Miami over it. However, at the time, many reporters started to realize how this could be the death of the transfer portal. If you can un-enroll and then walk on at another school, the transfer portal means nothing.
Now, another player is following suit as Jake Retzlaff is leaving BYU and planning to walk-on at a new school. He is leaving over the mess of a sexual assault civil suit that came against him. He ultimately was cleared, but in the process had to admit he broke the BYU honor code of not having pre-marital sex.
Now, whatever you think of that rule is moot because Retzlaff agreed to it when he chose BYU, knew those were the rules for BYU, and yet still decided to go there and break their rules. Now he is dodging punishment by going somewhere else, which is ultimately the problem. Not the rule or the situation, but the fact that you can dodge contracts and punishment by simply leaving one school and "walking on" for another.
The Xavier Lucas problem is spreading to other places.