Alabama LB, former top-75 recruit, opts for transfer portal after 2 seasons

Alabama LB Shawn Murphy is looking to continue his career elsewhere after two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Nick Saban’s retirement opened a 30-day window for UA undergraduates to enter the NCAA transfer portal, and Murphy is taking advantage of the opportunity. He will be a redshirt sophomore in 2024.

Alabama linebacker Shawn Murphy has entered the transfer portal. He had three tackles over 13 games this past season.

— Tony Tsoukalas (@Tony_Tsoukalas) January 14, 2024

Murphy was a sought-after recruit, picking up 45 scholarship offers out of Unity Reed High School in Manassas, Virginia. On the 247Sports Composite, Murphy was rated 4-stars, the No. 2 player in the state of Virginia, No. 6 linebacker and No. 72 prospect overall in the Class of 2022. He signed with Alabama over offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and others.

In 2022, Murphy took advantage of the NCAA’s amended redshirt rules. He played in 4 regular-season contests and the Sugar Bowl for a 5-game redshirt, finishing with 2 tackles and 1 pass breakup.

This past season, Murphy appeared in 13 games. He was a special teams contributor who also logged snaps on defense. Murphy finished with 3 tackles in the 2023 campaign.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.