Nevada transfer Will Baker commits to LSU

Nevada graduate transfer Will Baker has committed to LSU, he told On3.

The 7-foot, 245-pound center averaged 13.6 points and 5.2 rebounds this season. Baker, a native of Austin, began his college career at Texas but played sparingly so transferred out west to Reno to play for the Wolf Pack.

Baker discussed his commitment to LSU with On3.

“As I’ve looked for a place to invest my grad year playing for a school, I wanted a team that fit my style and goals. Coach McMahon and the system he has in place seems like a perfect match. Coach and his staff believe in me and the strengths I can bring to that plan.

“I respect the culture that coach is building and the intentionality behind the pieces he is bringing in, not only character wise, but also guys that can really bring a lot of value and impact the game, in addition to being good fits for the program. After I was able to I visit campus and meet guys that I know want to win as much as i do, I just realized how great of an opportunity was before me, and it felt like this is exactly where I needed to be.”

The LSU Tigers finished the 2022-23 season 14th in the SEC with an overall record of 14-19.

Baker is a former four-star recruit and was the No. 30 overall player in the nation from the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

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

Baker is headed to Baton Rouge, 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.