NCAA Transfer Portal Closes for New Entries

The main period for the NCAA transfer portal closed at midnight on Tuesday, April 22, slowing the onslaught of players jumping ship for greener pastures to a trickle.

The portal closing has no impact on the ability of players already in the portal to pick a new team: it merely limits the ability of players who haven’t yet declared their intentions to transfer from doing so. Exceptions exist to that rule, however, as players on teams that underwent coaching changes — like the Villanova Wildcats, who fired former head coach Kyle Neptune before bringing Kevin Willard into the fold — receive extra time to make a decision. Graduate students also retain the ability to enter the portal at any time.

Villanova lost eight players to the portal this offseason, although two of them don’t have any eligibility remaining as of right now. With the NCAA planning to consider adding a fifth year of eligibility for all student-athletes, however, it’s possible that those players — Jordan Longino and Enoch Boakye — could see an extension to their collegiate careers.

Much as players already in the portal can still commit to new teams after it closes, players can choose to recommit to their previous team after testing the waters… something to monitor for longtime Wildcats like Longino.