SEC Unfiltered: A transfer's word doesn't mean much, as Tennessee learns with Isaiah Neyor

Welcome to SEC Unfiltered, the USA TODAY NETWORK's newsletter on SEC sports. Look for this newsletter in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Today, SEC columnist Blake Toppmeyer takes over:

Four days before Tennessee's spring semester begins, wide receiver Isaiah Neyor announced Thursday that he no longer would be transferring to Tennessee.

Instead, the Wyoming transfer pivoted his commitment to Texas, further proof that roster management – and roster building – is as much of a chore as ever for college coaches.

Unlike high school recruits, transferring players do not sign a national letter of intent, so there's little a school can do to bind a transfer to his commitment. Basically, it's a waiting game until that player enrolls in classes.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a transfer from Central Florida, pulled a similar maneuver. He committed to transfer to UCLA before flipping his pledge to Oklahoma after the Sooners' Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal.

Name, image and likeness deals are another fly in the ointment. Transferring players can shop around for the best offer.

Tennessee's up-tempo offense would seem like an attractive landing spot for transferring wide receivers. Cedric Tillman and Velus Jones Jr. each caught more than 60 passes in 2021 in coach Josh Heupel's system after posting more modest numbers under Heupel's predecessor, Jeremy Pruitt.

UT quarterback Hendon Hooker will return in 2022, and the 6-foot-3 Neyor would have provided Hooker with another attractive target after he caught 44 passes for 878 yards last season.

Neyor is from Fort Worth, Texas, so maybe this is as simple as a player jumping at the chance to play for his home-state school.

But whenever a transfer flips his pledge, speculation will quickly involve the possibility of a name, image and likeness endorsement turning the tide. Using endorsements as a recruiting inducement is against NCAA rules, but in the Wild West, rules rarely matter.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: A transfer's word doesn't mean much, Tennessee learns with Isaiah Neyor