Rather basic questions about the "portal"

[historybill]

If someone announces that they are "in the transfer portal," does that mean that they have left campus and are no longer a student?

Or CAN it mean that, but it doesn't have to?

I say this because I think it's strange if Jordan Wright it still a Vanderbilt student, even though he's just broadcast a photo of himself in an LSU uniform.

Also, can the "transfer portal" mean that a person is a senior, about to get a bachelor's degree, and you intend to play one more year while a grad student somewhere else?

If so, that's not really transfer, is it?

I mean... if someone graduates with a bachelors and goes to a different school to get their masters, we don't typically think of them as transferring, do we?

[vu2003rpl]

My understanding may not be totally clear here… But I believe declaring for the portal means you forfeit your scholarship rights. But i suspect you would (at least could) finish out the current semester. I guess that also depends on whether or not the school you’re going to can give you the scholarship immediately? Or the start of the next semester? I’m not really sure.

[AuricGoldfinger]

If someone announces that they are "in the transfer portal," does that mean that they have left campus and are no longer a student?

Or CAN it mean that, but it doesn't have to?

I say this because I think it's strange if Jordan Wright it still a Vanderbilt student, even though he's just broadcast a photo of himself in an LSU uniform.

Also, can the "transfer portal" mean that a person is a senior, about to get a bachelor's degree, and you intend to play one more year while a grad student somewhere else?

If so, that's not really transfer, is it?

I mean... if someone graduates with a bachelors and goes to a different school to get their masters, we don't typically think of them as transferring, do we?

The portal is simply a formal way of announcing to other schools that you intend to use some or all of your remaining eligibility playing at another institution, and that you are now free to be recruited--as an undergraduate or graduate student.

Technically, players are not supposed to be recruited by another school until they put themselves in the portal. (wink, wink)

I imagine most student athletes putting themselves in the portal finish out the semester at their current school, especially those who intend to graduate.

[historybill]

So in the case of all these Vanderbilt players that are announcing that they are in the portal, do fans ever learn whether they might still be graduating in May, or whether they have already left campus?

[charlestonalum]

Wright graduates in May with a double major.

[AuricGoldfinger]

So in the case of all these Vanderbilt players that are announcing that they are in the portal, do fans ever learn whether they might still be graduating in May, or whether they have already left campus?

Not until they walk across the stage on Alumni Lawn.

[volemtine]

Going into the portal allows players to freely speak to other coaches. The players still have their academic obligations. Failing to go to class or worse leaving before the end of the semester is unwise. The players still have to be admitted to another school with their academic credentials from Vandy. If they funk their classes in the spring they may be academically ineligible for next year.

[PeteFox]

they may be academically ineligible for next year....

Are you kidding? Since the idiotic North Carolina ruling by the NCAA, has any player the coach wanted to play ever been ruled "academically" ineligible?

[FayetteDore]

One more basic question:

If a player puts his name in the portal and, say, doesn't get an offer from some other school that he wants, can he withdraw from the portal and stay where he is, or does entering the portal automatically mean you're leaving, or is it up to your current school/coach to say, "Okay, glad you're staying" (or "Sorry bud, but you've burned this bridge")?

[AuricGoldfinger]

One more basic question:

If a player puts his name in the portal and, say, doesn't get an offer from some other school that he wants, can he withdraw from the portal and stay where he is, or does entering the portal automatically mean you're leaving, or is it up to your current school/coach to say, "Okay, glad you're staying" (or "Sorry bud, but you've burned this bridge")?

It's up to the coach (and the school, if he or she has withdrawn from school) to determine whether the athlete can return.

[FayetteDore]

Thank you Auric.