After days of speculation over whether he would enter the transfer portal or remain at the school he’d spent his first two seasons at, some clarity arrived on Tuesday on the Jordan Addison front.

The star Pittsburgh wideout and Biletnikoff winner in 2021 has officially entered the transfer portal, according to multiple reports. The deadline for a player to officially notify their school of their intention to enter the transfer portal and retain immediate eligibility for the 2022 season was 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. After that time passed, schools had up to 48 hours to officially file everything. Addison will have four years to play three with whoever he chooses to sign with next.

Thamel offered additional reporting on ESPN.com:

A person close to Addison said Tuesday that the expectation remains that Addison will run a formal process after his name appears in the portal. He has yet to make up his mind on a destination, and there’s no expectation of an imminent decision, according to the person.

“A return to Pittsburgh remains a very viable option,” the person said Tuesday.

The expectation remains that this will not be a name, image and likeness (NIL) bidding war but rather a way to situate Addison best for the NFL. Seemingly, every powerhouse in the country will be a suitor.

Addison finished fourth among all FBS wideouts last season with 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns on 100 receptions. He was tied for the FBS lead in touchdown receptions and finished with eight 100-yard games, the second-best season by a Panther wideout in program history.

The 6-foot, 175-pound wideout won the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s most outstanding wide receiver, helping Pitt claim an ACC title. He also earned consensus First Team All-American status, the first sophomore to achieve that since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003.

The Frederick, Maryland, native is without a doubt one of the most electric players in college football and one of the best players to come available this offseason. He’s expected to have a number of suitors. Texas, according to 247Sports’ Chris Hummer, is expected to make a run at the wideout and there could be mutual interest there considering UT’s wideout coach, Brennan Marion, served as Pitt’s wideout coach for the 2021 season.

But most of the reporting on Addison prior to his official entry into the portal was that USC was a frontrunner. That caused the Trojans and coach Lincoln Riley to take considerable heat from the public as accusations of tampering were tossed around and USC was alleged to have offered the star wideout a large NIL package. USC has no centralized NIL collective group.

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi reportedly called Riley multiple times last Friday to “express his displeasure” over what Pitt officials suspected to be tampering on the part of the Trojans. It has been reported that Addison and current USC quarterback Caleb Williams, also from the DMV area, have a prior relationship that predates Williams’ arrival at USC.

During spring ball, Riley proclaimed that USC was open for business with regards to the transfer portal and would look to bring in double-digit transfers to get the roster up to the scholarship limit. The Trojans went through the spring period considerably under the 85-man limit. The Trojans have the space to add at just about any position.

So far this offseason, USC has earned transfer portal commitments from wideouts in Terrell Bynum (Washington), Brenden Rice (Colorado), and Mario Williams (Oklahoma) to add to a room that includes Gary Bryant Jr. and Tahj Washington. It has also added Oregon running back Travis Dye and Stanford running back Austin Jones as Riley sought to remake the Trojan offense in short order.