What's next with the transfer portal at West Virginia?
The first transfer window has closed, but what does that mean? And what’s next?
At West Virginia, a total of 14 players have entered the transfer portal since the first window opened Dec. 4 with varying degrees of impact that their departures have on the roster.
There are a couple of players who started last season, defensive lineman Mike Lockhart and bandit linebacker Jared Bartlett who have both elected to use their final year of eligibility elsewhere, along with a number of key contributors such as defensive end Tomiwa Durojaiye and safety Hershey McLaurin.
There also was one young player that left before he could really get started in pass rushing linebacker James Heard leaving and committing to Syracuse. Heard was one of the higher-rated prospects in the previous recruiting class.
The rest of the names on the list are players that simply needed a fresh start such as running back Justin Johnson, cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp and athlete Davis Mallinger or had left the program already such as linebacker Lance Dixon, wide receiver Cortez Braham and wide receiver Jeremiah Aaron.
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But even with players entering their names into the portal they could always elect to return depending on what unfolds in the coming days and weeks.
So, what could come next? Well while the deadline to enter the portal passed, it’s important to note that the process sometimes takes longer to play out.
All student-athletes have to do to meet the deadline is notify compliance that they intend to transfer and then those compliance departments usually take around 48 hours to formally enter their names into the database.
That is why you sometimes see players' names appear in the database a few days after the deadline has passed. It’s simply an issue of accounting instead of anything wild unfolding past the cut-off date.
It’s also key to remember that the transfer window only applies to undergraduate students and graduate transfers are still eligible to enter their names into the database at any time.
And while the transfer portal is indeed closed at West Virginia there will also be some stragglers entering into the database from those teams that played in the College Football Playoff or Jan. 1 bowl games. Those schools are afforded more time to allow their student-athletes to enter into the portal.
There also will be a second window spanning 15 days in April where the process will start up once again and give players the option to leave.
But even with the option to enter into the database shutting down, recruiting of transfers will still be ongoing as the portal deadline only regulates when players can enter their names. West Virginia has already added several transfers to the roster from other schools and you can expect that process to continue moving forward as the coaching staff looks to fill out potential holes on the roster.
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