Texas safety Larry Turner-Gooden reportedly plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Texas safety Larry Turner-Gooden plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, Hayes Fawcett of On3 reported Thursday afternoon (Turner-Gooden reposted Fawcett’s message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter). The redshirt freshman who came to the Forty Acres as a 247Sports four-star prospect in 2022 has three seasons of eligibility remaining at his next destination.

The 6-foot, 204-pound Turner-Gooden saw action in one game for the Longhorns in 2023, logging two snaps on defense in the team’s 57-7 win over Texas Tech in the regular-season finale on Nov. 24, according to Pro Football Focus. Over two seasons with the Longhorns, Turner-Gooden played in five games and recorded one assisted tackle on 12 total snaps according to PFF.

A native of South Central Los Angeles (Calif.) who attended Bishop Alemany, Turner-Gooden committed to Texas at the 2022 All-American Bowl in San Antonio, making his declaration during the broadcast on NBC from the Alamodome. He picked the Longhorns over Colorado, Maryland, Penn State and USC.

Turner-Gooden is the sixth Texas player to either publicly declare their entry into the transfer portal or have their expected entry into the portal confirmed by Horns247. Turner-Gooden joins safeties Jalen Catalon and B.J. Allen Jr., offensive lineman Sawyer Goram-Welch, cornerback X’Avion Brice and wide receiver Casey Cain in the group of players expected to depart the program.

Is a player forced to leave his school after entering the portal?

No. Players sometimes withdraw their names from the portal and end up staying with their respective programs.

Often, however, the decision to enter the portal comes with some amount of displeasure on either the player’s side or the program’s side. Most players who enter the portal do not return to their previous school, and they’re often removed from the team immediately upon entering.