Some Insight Regarding The Transfer Portal

Submitted by umbig11 on February 26th, 2019 at 2:38 PM

A few weeks ago there was a discussion about the transfer portal. Some of the questions centered on how many student athletes were in the portal and other discussions focused on the mechanics of the process.

On Feb 1, 2019 there were 1,789 athletes in the portal that spanned all Division 1 sports. Just for a reference point, less than 600 of those transfers are football players. After football, one of the biggest transfer portal surprises has been D-1 Soccer. They have the largest percentage of transfers followed by Lacrosse and women's basketball.

The NCAA has tracked D-1 Football transfers for years at an estimated rate of 6.25 percent per year. As of Feb, 2019, the transfer rate is around 5.4 percent. So, there really isn't a proven epidemic of transfers to date. Those numbers may go up in the future with the relaxed transfer rules along with the trend of immediate eligibility

Here are some key points about the portal mechanics:
- Once you notify your coach or AD, the Compliance Officer enters your name, NCAA ID, school, sport, and email address into the database.
- Once you have entered the database schools can terminate the athlete's student aid at the end of the semester
- Most schools check the portal daily, whereas others check it weekly.

Here is a link to more information:
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/di-saac-notification-transfer.pdf

Which B1G football teams have been effected the most by the portal this year? Penn St. They have 18 football players in the portal and only one is returning to PSU. Who has been effected the least? Northwestern, MSU, and Wisconsin all have one name in the portal. Most other schools avg 4-5.

Michigan has 5 in the transfer portal. One of which includes Tyrone Wheatley Jr. Even though he played at Stony Brook last year, he came back to Michigan and graduated. One other noteworthy name in the portal was Alex Malzone. He is on the move again from Miami of Ohio after never starting a game or completing a single pass.

Comments

theintegral

February 26th, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^

Interesting response:

Q: Are there any consequences if I give a notification of transfer and then don’t transfer?

A: NCAA rules do not apply any consequences if a student notifies a school of an impending transfer and then does not transfer.

ALTHOUGH, once you have communicated your intention to transfer to your coach and compliance officer, your coach does not have to invite you back on the team and your financial aid or scholarship also may be discontinued for the following term.

Brhino

February 26th, 2019 at 3:27 PM ^

I would never have guessed the average transfer rate is 5-6%.  Sometimes we hear about two Michigan guys leaving in a short time period and it feels like the sky is falling, but I guess we're right around average.  Good to know.  

NittanyFan

February 26th, 2019 at 3:35 PM ^

That's a good post - good job.  +1.

Looking at things from a 30,000-foot point-of-view, I view the "transfer portal" as a good thing.  It provides players a way to widely spread news of their desire to explore opportunities elsewhere.  The "transfer portal" is a player friendly thing.  I view player friendly things as good things.

As you pointed out, though, the actual transfer rate isn't extraordinarily high.  We're not an epidemic levels yet.

Penn State has gotten a lot of press this winter as regards their 18 players in the portal.  Some will transfer (Juwan Johnson is now an Oregon Duck), but I'd expect Lamont Wade won't be the only one among the 18 back at PSU in 2019.

NittanyFan

March 2nd, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^

Can't argue with that --- Franklin has now had 2 teams in 4 years (2015 & 2018) where it was apparent, by late in the year, there were team chemistry problems.

2015 made some sense: a mix of Franklin & O'Brien folk (and a few Paterno-recruited guys too).  Many of the older folk who saw a lot of change during their tenure just tuned out at the end.

Franklin, I think, lost a lot of confidence among the 2018 players with the end of that OSU game.

Luke15

February 27th, 2019 at 1:41 AM ^

This doesn't belong here, but I don't have enough points to post as a separate board topic (though someone should). Fran McCcaffery called a ref a "cheating motherf*cker" after Iowa lost to Ohio State tonight. He and his son were both T'd up during the game.

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2019/02/26/fran-mccaffery-calls-official-cheating-disgrace-iowa-loss-ohio-state

What makes this board-worthy is that Paul Szelc and Steve McJunkins were 2 of the 3 officials calling that game. Recall, Szelc was the one who ejected Beilein and McJunkins called our game against MSU on Sunday.

It comforts me to know these crappy officials are hearing it from the coaches. And when it gets pub like this, surely Delaney must have to acknowledge in some way or another.

JeepinBen

February 27th, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^

Harbaugh talked about this on his podcast that posted yesterday. He basically said that the portal as a communication tool is a net positive, but he does worry about players (and all college students) transferring prematurely. He thinks that having limits on when players can transfer (after 1 year) would be a benefit.

bronxblue

February 27th, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^

Good stuff.  It's sort of interesting to see how few guys actually transfer.  PSU is obviously a bit of an outlier, but it sure seems like most schools have a couple of guys looking for other opportunities, and it makes sense.

Mgoeffoff

February 28th, 2019 at 11:34 AM ^

As of Feb, 2019, the transfer rate is around 5.4 percent. So, there really isn't a proven epidemic of transfers to date

While the numbers are still fairly low it only takes one big name to make significant differences.  Imagine where UM would have been without Patterson.  Where would OSU be without Fields?  I think they really need to address the issue of who needs to sit a year vs not. 

Mgoeffoff

March 1st, 2019 at 12:36 PM ^

I think it's common sense that QBs are the most important position, however I think they need to be clear about the rule regardless of position.  Those are just the two biggest impact transfer's I've seen lately.