After only one season on Rocky Top, California native Jordan Allen began to suffer from homesickness. That’s fairly common for first-year players that travel great distances from home, especially from players that serve in mostly reserve roles initially, as Allen did on Jeremy Pruitt’s defense last fall.

Allen took it so far, he entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. If you are unfamiliar with the portal, it does not indicate a player is officially leaving his current school but it is the first step to doing so. The purpose of the portal is it gives other programs an opportunity to reach out and discuss transfer options for players before they make a final decision.

The NCAA instituted this system to eliminate tampering and give players more information before they make a decision that will alter their college careers.

After initially putting his name in the portal, Allen has withdrawn his name from the system and plans to stay at Tennessee. While Allen didn’t receive a ton of playing time last fall, he is now in position to see the field early and often next season, as Pruitt’s defense is in need of pass rushers, which the linebacker could certainly be next season for the Vols.

One of the reasons he thought about leaving Knoxville was to be closer to his mother back in California. Ironically enough, it was his mother that put a stop to any talk of a transfer for her son.

Allen’s mother, Lisa McGee, recently issued a lengthy statement regarding her son’s exploration into a potential transfer, to which she replied, “Mama ain’t raised NO PUNK!!! Back to Tennessee it is!!!”

This message comes via Luke Slabaugh of WVLT in Knoxville:

 

If you were unfamiliar with Allen’s story, Slabaugh and WVLT did a story on the Vol and his mother and all they’ve accomplished just to get to Rocky Top. Leaving after only one season, without making much of an impact would have been a tough decision to make, but clearly, McGee knew it would be the wrong one for her son.

Check out the feature WVLT did in the spring on the family below, which can also be found on YouTube:

(Photo credit: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics)