Iowa State lands commitment from Buffalo transfer Curtis Jones

Buffalo transfer Curtis Jones has committed to Iowa State, he told On3.

The 6-foot-5, 180-pound sophomore shooting guard averaged 15 points, 4.8 rebounds, and three assists per game this season for the Bulls.

Jones, a native of Minneapolis, Minn., discussed his commitment with On3.

“I chose Iowa State because I liked the plan they had for my to get better,” he said. “I also appreciate their effort in recruiting me and making my feel like they really wanted me at Iowa State and it felt like a good fit.”

The Iowa State Cyclones, led by TJ Otzelberger, finished the 2022-23 season fifth in the Big 12 with an overall record of 19-14.

Jones becomes Iowa State’s third commitment via the transfer portal, joining UNLV’s PG Keshon Gilbert (11.4 PPG) and Wofford’s SG Jackson Paveletzke (15.1 PPG). The Cyclones also signed four players out of the high school ranks: five-star PF Omaha Biliew (No. 11), four-star PF Milan Momcilovic (No. 37), three-star SG Jelani Hamilton (No. 126), and three-star PF Kayden Fish (No. 187).

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

Curtis Jones is headed to Iowa State, 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.