TD Ierlan tried to play whistles on his phone during drills for his faceoff lessons last night. However, he soon realized it wouldn’t be a normal lesson — because Wednesday was no normal day for the NCAA’s all-time leading faceoff man. 

His phone blew up with phone calls and texts, some from fellow players and children he had coached,and some from coaches across the Division I landscape.Ierlan, the one-time transfer from Albany to Yale in the summer of 2019, had entered the transfer portal once again. 

“I was like, ‘We’re not listening to whistles today,’” Ierlan joked. “Troy Reh was the first one to call me, and he thought it would be a good time to catch up with me, as if I wasn’t busy. He was like, ‘What are you up to?’ and I said,‘Can you not right now?’”

As soon as the report from Inside Lacrosse stated he had entered the transfer portal, Ierlan’s phone had not stopped ringing. The Yale faceoff man may be the most coveted transfer in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history — for the second time.

As the Ivy League continues to determine how it will approach the 2021 season — one that begins in two weeks for some other teams and conferences — Ierlan felt he could not take the chance of losing his final season of college lacrosse.

“It’s been 10 months since everything has happened, and they don’t have a plan of attack,” he said. “If I sit around another three weeks and wait for there to be significant changes, that’s not realistic. A year is going to pass by, and I won’t be able to play.”

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Ierlan said that entering the transfer portal is not simply a safety net. He plans to transfer elsewhere for the 2021 season.

As for a hint at his new destination, Ierlan has not made a decision. Yes, he was contacted by Duke for a potential “super team,” although he doesn’t believe he will end up in Durham.

“As much it was fun being made memes of Kevin Durant for two years, I was kind of happy to get over that hump,” he joked.

Ierlan’s mind may be focused somewhere farther West.

“The appeal to potentially play with Jackson [Morrill] and Lucas [Cotler] would be really intriguing to me,” he said.

The Ivy League COVID-19 protocols have been administered in a five-step process (Nos. 0-4) during the fall. Each phase required, according to Ierlan, at least two-three weeks to advance to the next one. 

Ierlan’s Yale team had only reached Phase 2 for a day before an outbreak on the hockey team forced programs to shut down. That meant the lacrosse team went back to Phase 0 of the protocol. 

“If that happens during the season, you can’t realistically think we’re going to play the season,” he said. “If one kid on our lacrosse team, or the softball team, gets COVID, that could set us back eight weeks of playing.” 

Ierlan made the decision that he felt he had to in order to prolong his career. Yale coach Andy Shay will certainly miss the services of the top faceoff man in the country, but according to Ierlan, he was supportive of Ierlan’s decision. 

“He saw the writing on the walls,” Ierlan said. “It was a tough conversation, but he doesn’t want me to sit around in limbo and watch my lacrosse career disappear. He wants me to finish my lacrosse story the right way. He’s been so encouraging and helpful. He’s been through it every step of the way.”