Transfer Portal

The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. The transfer portal permits student athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer. Athletes enter the portal by informing their current school of their desire to transfer; the school then has two business days to enter the athlete's name in the database. Once an athlete's name is entered in the database, coaches and staff from other schools are permitted to make contact with the athlete to inquire about their interest in visiting the campus and accepting a scholarship. The transfer portal is intended to bring greater transparency to the transfer process and to enable student athletes to publicize their desire to transfer. The transfer portal is an NCAA-wide database, covering transfers in all three NCAA divisions, although most media coverage of the transfer portal involves its use in the top-level Division I.

New regulations were adopted in 2021 allowing student-athletes in Division I football, men's and women's basketball, men's ice hockey, and baseball to change schools using the portal once without sitting out a year after the transfer. This regulation placed all NCAA sports under the same transfer rules, as the so-called "one-time transfer" rule had long been in place for all other D-I sports, as well as all sports in Divisions II and III.

Transfer windows

On August 31, 2022, the Division I board adopted a series of changes to transfer rules, introducing the concept of transfer windows, similar to those used in professional soccer worldwide. Student-athletes who wish to take advantage of the one-time transfer rule now must, under normal circumstances, enter the portal within a designated window for their sport. These windows are slightly different for each NCAA sport, but are broadly grouped by the NCAA's three athletic "seasons".
* Fall sports – A 45-day winter window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport, and a spring window from May 1–15. According to the NCAA, "reasonable accommodations" would be made for participants in football's FBS and FCS championship games (respectively the College Football Playoff National Championship and Division I Football Championship Game), both of which take place in early January. More specifically, participants in those games have a 14-day window opening on the day after the championship game, as well as the spring window.
* Winter sports – A 60-day window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
* Spring sports – A winter window from December 1–15, and a 45-day spring window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
* For sports included in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, transfer windows are the same as those for fully recognized NCAA sports. As with fully recognized NCAA sports, transfer windows linked to championship events open on the day after selections are made for the generally recognized championship events in emerging sports.

Student-athletes whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed by their current school may enter the transfer portal at any time without penalty. This exception also applies to those undergoing a head coaching change.

Less than a month after transfer windows were adopted, the Division I Council adopted a change that affects only graduate transfers. Student-athletes who are set to graduate with remaining athletic eligibility, and plan to continue competition as postgraduate students, are exempt from transfer windows. They may enter the portal at any time during the academic year, subject only to deadlines of May 1 for fall and winter sports and July 1 for spring sports.

Because the Ivy League allows neither redshirting nor athletic participation by graduate students, athletes at its member schools who are set to complete four years of attendance but still have remaining athletic eligibility may enter the portal at any time during their fourth academic year of attendance.

Notable athletes using the portal

This section is limited to notable athletes who have used the transfer portal to change schools. The lists are limited to athletes who have Wikipedia articles about them.

Football 2021–22

The following football players used the transfer portal during the 2021–22 window:
* Jordan Addison, wide receiver, Pittsburgh to USC
* Jahleel Billingsley, tight end, Alabama to Texas
* Jermaine Burton, wide receiver, Georgia to Alabama
* Jaxson Dart, quarterback, USC to Ole Miss
* Zach Evans, running back, TCU to Ole Miss
* Quinn Ewers, quarterback, Ohio State to Texas
* Dillon Gabriel, quarterback, UCF to Oklahoma
* Eric Gentry, linebacker, Arizona State to USC
* Jahmyr Gibbs, running back, Georgia Tech to Alabama
* Brandon Joseph, safety, Northwestern to Notre Dame
* Ochaun Mathis, defensive end, TCU to Nebraska
* Isaiah Neyor, wide receiver, Wyoming to Texas
* Eyabi Okie, defensive end, UT Martin to Michigan
* Olusegun Oluwatimi, center, Virginia to Michigan, 2022 Outland Trophy and Rimington Trophy winner
* Michael Penix Jr., quarterback, Indiana to Washington
* John Rhys Plumlee, quarterback, Ole Miss to UCF
* Spencer Rattler, quarterback, Oklahoma to South Carolina
* Eli Ricks, cornerback, LSU to Alabama
* Drew Sanders, linebacker, Alabama to Arkansas
* Lindsey Scott Jr., quarterback, Nicholls to Incarnate Word, 2022 Walter Payton Award winner
* Casey Thompson, quarterback, Texas to Nebraska
* Kyle Vantrease, quarterback, Buffalo to Georgia Southern
* Jared Verse, defensive end, Albany to Florida State
* Cameron Ward, quarterback, Incarnate Word to Washington State
* Caleb Williams, quarterback, Oklahoma to USC, 2022 Heisman Trophy winner
* Mario Williams, wide receiver, Oklahoma to USC

Basketball 2022–23

The following basketball players used the transfer portal during the 2022–23 window:

Men

* Fardaws Aimaq, center, Utah Valley to Texas Tech
* Devin Askew, point guard/shooting guard, Texas to California
* Emoni Bates, small forward/shooting guard, Memphis to Eastern Michigan
* Keion Brooks Jr., small forward/power forward, Kentucky to Washington
* Johni Broome, power forward/center, Morehead State to Auburn
* André Curbelo, point guard, Illinois to St. John's
* Kendric Davis, point guard, SMU to Memphis
* Doug Edert, point guard, Saint Peter's to Bryant
* De'Vion Harmon, point guard, Oregon to Texas Tech
* Tyrese Hunter, point guard, Iowa State to Texas
* Kyle Lofton, point guard, St. Bonaventure to Florida
* Matthew Mayer, shooting guard/small forward, Baylor to Illinois
* Kevin McCullar, shooting guard, Texas Tech to Kansas
* Tre Mitchell, power forward/center, Texas to West Virginia
* Isiaih Mosley, shooting guard/small forward, Missouri State to Missouri
* Pete Nance, power forward, Northwestern to North Carolina
* KC Ndefo, power forward, Saint Peter's to Seton Hall
* Norchad Omier, small forward/power forward, Arkansas State to Miami (FL)
* Osun Osunniyi, power forward/center, St. Bonaventure to Iowa State
* Nijel Pack, point guard, Kansas State to Miami (FL)
* Courtney Ramey, point guard, Texas to Arizona
* Efton Reid, power forward/center, LSU to Gonzaga
* Baylor Scheierman, shooting guard, South Dakota State to Creighton
* Mark Sears, point guard, Ohio to Alabama
* Terrence Shannon Jr., shooting guard/small forward, Texas Tech to Illinois
* Grant Sherfield, point guard, Nevada to Oklahoma
* Malachi Smith, shooting guard, Chattanooga to Gonzaga
* KJ Williams, power forward, Murray State to LSU

Women

* Haley Cavinder, point guard, Fresno State to Miami (FL)
* Shaylee Gonzales, point guard/shooting guard, BYU to Texas
* Rickea Jackson, forward, Mississippi State to Tennessee
* Lou Lopez Sénéchal, forward, Fairfield to UConn
* Ashley Owusu, shooting guard, Maryland to Virginia Tech
* Angel Reese, power forward, Maryland to LSU

Football 2022–23

Top 25

The following football players are ranked by 247Sports as the top 30 recruits entering the transfer portal during the 2022–23 window. Players who did not change schools are highlighted in blue.

Others
* Brennan Armstrong, quarterback, Virginia to NC State
* Hank Bachmeier, quarterback, Boise State to Louisiana Tech
* JT Daniels, quarterback, West Virginia to Rice
* CJ Dippre, tight end, Maryland to Alabama
* Tony Grimes, cornerback, North Carolina to Texas A&M
* Sam Hartman, quarterback, Wake Forest to Notre Dame
* Traeshon Holden, wide receiver, Alabama to Oregon
* Emory Jones, quarterback, Arizona State to Cincinnati
* Phil Jurkovec, quarterback, Boston College to Pittsburgh
* Haynes King, quarterback, Texas A&M to Georgia Tech
* Cade McNamara, quarterback, Michigan to Iowa
* Graham Mertz, quarterback, Wisconsin to Florida
* Tanner Mordecai, quarterback, SMU to Wisconsin
* Drew Pyne, quarterback, Notre Dame to Arizona State
* Austin Reed, quarterback, entered the portal but ultimately remained at Western Kentucky.
* Spencer Sanders, quarterback, Oklahoma State to Ole Miss
* Jeff Sims, quarterback, Georgia Tech to Nebraska
* Kedon Slovis, quarterback, Pittsburgh to BYU
* Donovan Smith, quarterback, Texas Tech to Houston
* Jake Smith, wide receiver, USC to Arizona State
* Carson Steele, running back, Ball State to UCLA
* Austin Stogner, tight end, South Carolina to Oklahoma

Footnotes

References

{{Reflist , refs=
{{cite book , date=October 2018 , title=NCAA Transfer Portal User Guide , url=http://ncaa.s3.amazonaws.com/files/apps/transfer/DI_TransferPortal_UserGuide.pdf , publisher= National Collegiate Athletic Association , quote=The Transfer Portal is an NCAA application to manage the transfer process for Division I and II student-athletes.
{{cite book , date=August 2019 , title=NCAA Transfer Portal User Guide , url=http://ncaa.s3.amazonaws.com/files/apps/transfer/DI_TransferPortal_UserGuide_v2.pdf , publisher= National Collegiate Athletic Association , version=2.0 , quote=Google Chrome is the recommended browser to use the transfer portal.
{{cite magazine , last=Johnson , first=Greg , date=Fall 2019 , title=What the NCAA Transfer Portal Is... and What It Isn't , url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.ncaa.org/static/champion/what-the-ncaa-transfer-portal-is/index.html , magazine=Champion , publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association , access-date=December 6, 2022 , quote=The concept seemed simple: an online interface that helps athletics compliance officers do their jobs efficiently. But for sports fans hungry for information on lineups, the Transfer Portal has become so much more.
{{cite press release , last=Brutlag Hosick , first=Michelle , date=June 13, 2018 , title=New transfer rule eliminates permission-to-contact process , url=https://www.ncaa.org/news/2018/6/13/new-transfer-rule-eliminates-permission-to-contact-process.aspx , publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association , access-date=December 6, 2022

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