Alabama baseball adds commitment from former Maryland standout Ian Petrutz

New Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn is bringing one of his former players at Maryland with him. The Crimson Tide landed a commitment from former Maryland outfielder Ian Petrutz on Tuesday.

Petrutz announced the move on Twitter after spending the past two seasons playing for the Terrapins.

The New Jersey native just completed his sophomore season at Maryland as he hit .270 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 2023. Petrutz started 56 of Maryland’s 63 games on the season.

“I want to start by thanking coach Matt Swope and my teammates at the University of Maryland for two of the best years any young baseball player could ask for on the field. The memories we made together were nothing short of amazing and I wish them nothing but the best going forward,” Petrutz said as part of his statement. “With that being said, I would like to announce my commitment to the University of Alabama for my last two years of eligibility.”

Roll Tide Roll. Let’s Work! 🐘 pic.twitter.com/WFxFa7DdvM

— Ian Petrutz (@IPetrutz) June 27, 2023

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.