Tight end Elijah Brown, the final Alabama scholarship football player who remained in the NCAA transfer portal this spring, picked a new school Monday.

Brown announced on Instagram he committed to Florida Atlantic, becoming the Tide’s 17th scholarship player to leave through the portal since the start of the 2022 season.

Brown, who did not play last season for Alabama as a freshman, entered the transfer portal April 17 before the end of spring practice and did not participate in the April 22 spring game. He was one of three Tide players to transfer during the NCAA’s spring window (April 15-30), with cornerbacks Trequon Fegans (USC) and Jahquez Robinson (Colorado) also departing.

Alabama added three players through the portal this spring in quarterback Tyler Buchner (Notre Dame), cornerback Trey Amos (Louisiana) and safety Jaylen Key (UAB). It also added two players in the winter in tight end C.J. Dippre (Maryland) and inside linebacker Trezmen Marshall (Georgia).

Dippre is the top candidate to start at tight end for Alabama this season, with juniors Robbie Ouzts and Miles Kitselman, sophomores Danny Lewis and Amari Niblack, and freshman Ty Lockwood the other scholarship tight ends on the roster.

Brown was a four-star recruit from Dayton, Ohio ranked No. 299 nationally in the 2022 class by 247 Sports’ composite.

Brown joins new FAU coach Tom Herman, previously the head coach at Texas and Houston. He is the only Alabama player since the start of the 2022 season to transfer to a non-Power 5 school, with FAU moving from Conference USA to The American Conference this season.

The NCAA transfer portal does not reopen until December for undergraduates, but graduate players can enter the portal at any time.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.