4-star OL enters transfer portal
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas offensive lineman Jalen St. John has entered the transfer portal, Rivals has learned.
The news comes a few hours after the former four-star recruit wasn’t spotted during the media’s practice viewing session Monday - after which head coach Sam Pittman said he wasn’t sure the reason for his absence.
“He was not at practice today, so I'm not positive what's going on there, I got to talk to him,” Pittman said. “I really can't elaborate on St. John, because I don't really know any more on that. He just didn't show up for practice today. So I got to talk to him.”
St. John is the Razorbacks’ eighth player to enter the portal during the current cycle, following running back Josh Oglesby, defensive tackles Solomon Wright and Andy Boykin, kicker Vito Calvaruso, linebacker J.T. Towers, defensive back Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan and wide receiver Darin Turner.
A 5.8 four-star prospect in the Class of 2020, the St. Louis native originally committed to Missouri, but backed off his pledge following the firing of Barry Odom.
With Odom becoming the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator and Missouri offensive line coach Brad Davis also heading to Fayetteville, St. John signed with Arkansas to play for Pittman, an offensive line guru.
Despite his accolades coming out of high school, St. John did not appear in a game last season and made just two appearances as a redshirt freshman this year. He played 13 snaps at left tackle against Georgia Southern and 8 snaps at left guard against Georgia.
Pittman said during the season that he envisioned St. John, who is listed at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, played guard in the future, but he was seen mostly working at tackle in practice sessions open to the media.
St. John likely would have played significant snaps against UAPB, but missed the game due to an illness. He wasn’t seen at practice for several weeks after that, with Pittman revealing he was dealing with a wrist injury of some sort.
He returned to the practice field in a green jersey at the start of the Razorbacks’ bowl practices and eventually transitioned into a normal practice uniform before he wasn’t seen Monday morning.
Because he is Arkansas’ eighth transfer, St. John’s departure doesn’t impact the number of players the program can bring in this offseason. The previous transfers are able to be replaced by either a traditional high school/JUCO signee or a transfer, but that was capped at seven because of a one-year waiver by the NCAA.
What the move does do, though, is open up a spot in the 85-man scholarship limit for the 2022 season. Here is an updated look at HawgBeat’s projected scholarship distribution for next year.
