Pitt transfer John Hugley commits to Oklahoma

Pitt transfer John Hugley has committed to Oklahoma, he told On3.

Hugley appeared in just eight games this season for Pitt before deciding to sit out the remainder of the year to focus on his mental health. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound center from Cleveland led the Panthers in scoring (14.8 PPG) and rebounding (7.9 RPG) a season ago.

He will now look a fresh start in Norman.

“I chose Oklahoma because it just felt like home,” he said. “From the time Coach Porter first picked up the phone to call me, from the time I left campus, it was just all love. Coach Porter is an unbelievable coach and he loves to win and has took his teams to the highest levels. I also think coach does an unbelievable job with featuring his big man. I really think this team can make a really deep run come tournament time.”

Newly-hired Oklahoma assistant Armon Gates also played a large role in Hugley’s decision, he says.

“Coach Gates had a huge impact on me coming to Oklahoma. He did a great job recruiting me and we have a great relationship so that was major to me.”

Hugley also received interest from Ole Miss, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and others.

The Oklahoma Sooners, led by Porter Moser, finished the 2022-23 season ninth in the Big 12 with an overall record of 15-17.

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

John Hugley is headed to Norman, 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.