West Virginia safety Smith plans to enter transfer portal

West Virginia has lost its second starter to the transfer portal this off-season when junior safety Tykee Smith announced he would be entering it on the first day of spring practice.

Smith, 5-foot-10, 198-pounds, played in 22 games with West Virginia during his time with the Mountaineers and was highly productive piling up 114 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 4 interceptions during his time on the field.

The Philadelphia native was slated to start his third consecutive season this coming fall but now will play somewhere else for his final two seasons of eligibility.

This past season Smith graded out as the second-best player on the West Virginia defense at 82.4 according to PFF. He scored especially high in coverage at 89.7 where he allowed only 25 of 38 passes to be completed for 110 yards and a score.

Smith was named a Third-Team AP All-American, Second Team FWAA All-American and a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award which is given to the nation's best defensive back this past season.

Smith leaves a hole at the SPEAR position which will likely be filled by Arizona safety transfer Scottie Young. While Smith has yet to officially enter the transfer portal, he has started his intentions to do so.

WVSports.com will have more on this story.

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