Former Tennessee guard Victor Bailey announces transfer commitment

Former Tennessee guard Victor Bailey, Jr. officially entered the transfer portal on Sunday afternoon and he already has a new home. Bailey announced his commitment to George Mason on Monday in an Instagram story post.

Despite completing his five years, Bailey is opting to take advantage of the redshirt granted to all student-athletes for the 2020 season. He decided to not go through the senior day ceremony on March 5 at Thompson-Boling Arena, the first indication that he intended to transfer. 

Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes also recently hinted that a transfer could be possible for the senior guard. Bailey appeared to say goodbye to the Volunteer basketball program with a social media post he made over the weekend.

“Always be home sweet home #VFL,” Bailey posted on his Instagram account, along with a number of pictures from the season.

This year, he scored a season-high 14 points against Presbyterian on Nov. 30. The 6-foot-4 senior posted career-low averages this season with 9.6 minutes played per game, 2.6 points, .9 rebounds, and .5 assists. The best year of his career so far came in 2020-21 when he had 10.9 points per game.

Bailey is a former four-star prospect and top-10 recruit out of the state of Texas. He began his career with the Oregon Ducks. However, he opted to leave after two seasons and subsequently sat out the 2019-20 season.

Bailey exits transfer portal, lands with George Mason

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 goes 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. 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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid.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 reoffer a scholarship.

For all the latest information and updates on where college basketball prospects have committed this offseason, head to the 2022 On3 Transfer Portal Wire.