Boise State QB Malachi Nelson to enter NCAA transfer portal

Another prominent entry into the college football transfer portal and former USC and Boise State quarterback Malachi Nelson is looking for another school in 2025.

Malachi Nelson plans to enter the college football transfer portal ahead of the 2025 season. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Boise State redshirt freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson plans to enter the college football transfer portal after one season with the school ahead of the 2025 campaign, his manager said.

Nelson initially signed with USC out of high school as a coveted five-star recruit, but left the program after one season and played in one game, landing at Boise State.

Hoping to earn the starting quarterback position with the Broncos, he was beat out by Maddux Madsen, who remained the No. 1 option for the eventual Mountain West champions.

Nelson appeared in one game for Boise State this past season, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 128 yards and throwing one interception.

The quarterback will be eligible to transfer immediately and has three years of eligibility left.

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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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