Alabama forward Sam Walters entering transfer portal

Alabama freshman forward Sam Walters will be entering the transfer portal after one season in Tuscaloosa, he told On3.

The 6-foot-10 stretch-four averaged 5.4 points on the year, averaging just over 12 minutes per game. He also shot 39.4% from three, connecting on 39 shots from deep.

Walters becomes the fourth Alabama player to enter his name into the transfer portal, joining Rylan Griffen, Kris Parker, and Davin Cosby.

Walters, a native of The Villages, Florida, is a former four-star and was the No. 69 overall player in the nation from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Alabama had a stellar year, reaching their first-ever Final Four in program history, before falling to UConn — the National Champions.

Sam Walters looking for a new home, transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such asynchronous contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

Track transfer portal activity

While the NCAA Transfer Portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement. If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to the On3 Transfer Portal.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Rankings allow for you to filter the On3 Industry Rankings to find the best of the best in the portal, starting with Overall Top Players. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.