Former Texas Tech guard Kevin McCullar transfers to Kansas

Former Texas Tech guard Kevin McCullar officially exited the transfer portal on Thursday evening. He announced he will be playing college basketball next season with the Kansas Jayhawks.

McCullar averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest for the Red Raiders last season. He also shot 40 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range, and 73 percent from the free-throw line. 

🏁 pic.twitter.com/1ZG83YYB4s

— Kevin McCullar Jr. (@Kevin_McCullar) May 19, 2022

In the announcement, McCullar said his commitment to Kansas is contingent on his decision on the 2022 NBA Draft.

“I am forever grateful for the experience to attend Texas Tech University and play the game I love,” he wrote. “My family has deep roots to Texas Tech and it has shaped me into the man I am today. I am so thankful for that and would not change anything abut my time there! Thank you to the community and the fans that have supported me every day. We have had some great experiences together! It has been an honor to wear the Texas Tech jersey and be a part of the Lubbock community. As I look to the next chapter of my career, if I decide to withdraw from the NBA Draft, I am thrilled to say that I will be playing for the University of Kansas and Coach Self!

“At this stage of my life, KU offers me an opportunity to continue to improve my game while still being close to my family. I am extremely thankful and excited for this opportunity, to represent such a historic basketball program. It’s an honor of a lifetime!”

Just a few weeks ago, McCullar told On3’s college basketball expert Joe Tipton that he had narrowed his finalists down to two schools — Gonzaga and Kansas.

For updates on where all the different college basketball prospects across are headed this offseason, keep it locked to the 2022 On3 Transfer Portal Wire.

More on the NCAA Transfer Portal

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.

On3’s Joe Tipton also contributed to this article.