Former Alabama wide receiver Javon Baker not transferring to Kentucky

Former Alabama wide receiver Javon Baker, who entered the transfer portal and committed to Kentucky, will not play for the Wildcats after all, according to KSR. The report suggests the school moved off him as his arrival date neared and opted to “move on” in recent days.

Cats Illustrated’s Justin Rowland also now reports that Maryland could be one of Javon Baker’s top suiters after not coming to Kentucky. He also visited Florida and Ole Miss during his initial transfer recruitment this spring, although both have since brought in other targets.

Baker caught nine passes in his two years at Alabama, including seven in 2021 for 101 yards and a touchdown. He has not caught a pass since Alabama’s win over New Mexico State on November 13.

The former four-star recruit ranked No. 204 overall in the country and No. 40 among wide receivers in the 2018 On3 Consensus. The Georgia product also ranked No. 21 in his home state.

Alabama 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.