Alabama, Nate Oats land commitment from Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada

Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada has committed to Alabama, he told On3.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard averaged 20.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game this season. He chose the Crimson Tide over Cincinnati, Florida State, and Kansas State.

Estrada, a New Jersey native, discussed his commitment to Alabama with On3.

“I think (Nate) Oats is a great coach and they really made me and my family feel comfortable on my visit,” he said to On3. “I knew I wanted to go there as soon as they contacted but I was waiting to see if the basketball fit made sense for me and it did. I like the culture they have and their style of play matches mine. Coach Oats does well with player development and getting there guys to the next level and that’s my ultimate goal.”

Estrada began his college career at Saint Peter’s in 2019-20 before transferring to Oregon for one season. He’s spent the last two years at Hofstra.

Alabama, led by Nate Oats, finished the 2022-23 season first the SEC with an overall record of 31-6.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Aaron Estrada is headed to Alabama, 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 as 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.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.