Former Kentucky DB Vito Tisdale enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Former Kentucky DB Vito Tisdale has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Matt Zenitz. Tisdale, a Kentucky native, was dismissed from the team in March for violating team rules.

A product of Bowling Green High School and the son of Nappy Roots’ ‘Big V,’ Tisdale is a former three-star recruit, according to the 2020 On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 531 player in his class and No. 5 player out of Kentucky.

“Dear Big Blue Nation, thank you for allowing me to pursue my academic and my athletic career at this prestigious university. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me on and off the field. To my brothers, I love you guys. We made a lifetime of memories over the last few years. Thank you for always supporting me through thick and thin,” Tisdale said at the time he was dismissed.

Trouble has followed Tisdale his entire collegiate career, he was suspended for the first few games of the 2022 season after being charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree wanton endangerment after an incident at a University of Kentucky fraternity. He and his five Kentucky teammates also charged were all cleared by a grand jury.

Before being dismissed, he had recently returned to the field after an ACL injury sidelined him for all of 2023. He is expected to be back on the field when he finds a new college football home.

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 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.

Track other 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 the On3 Transfer Portal.

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.