Florida Gators cornerback Avery Helm hits NCAA transfer portal

Florida Gators cornerback Avery Helm entered the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. This season, in a reserve role for the Gators, Helm tallied eight tackles in six games played.

In 2021, Helm contributed 22 tackles, including 17 solo tackles. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he notched one tackle in the Cotton Bowl versus Oklahoma.

The Missouri City, Texas native will have three years of eligibility available to play two seasons thanks to the 2020 COVID redshirt. As this is his first transfer, Helm will be immediately eligible to play next season.

Helm was a four-star prospect coming out of high school in the 2020 signing class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Hailing from Fort Bend Marshall High School, he was the No. 367 overall prospect and No. 52 in the Lone Star state in 2020.

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

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 starts with the 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.

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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.

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 for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate 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 our Transfer Portal Wire.

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

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and senior national college football reporter Matt Zenitz’s Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.