George Mason transfer Josh Oduro follows Kim English to Providence

George Mason transfer Josh Oduro has committed to Providence, he told On3.

The 6-foot-9 senior forward averaged 15.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game this season, connecting on 55-percent of his field goal attempts. Oduro has spent the last four seasons at George Mason and will be a graduate transfer at Providence.

Odoru will follow his head coach Kim English to Friartown. English, the former George Mason head coach, accepted the open head coach position at Providence last week. He becomes to the second player to join English from George Mason, joining Justyn Fernandez, who committed to the Friars on Sunday.

Oduro on his commitment to Providence

“I decided to use my last year of college eligibility rather than go pro,” Oduro said to On3. “My coach leaving and going there definitely had a big impact on my decision. Kim (English) is a relentless leader who has the same vision for my game. In addition to that, Providence is a school that is rich in basketball tradition and has the best atmosphere in the Big East.”

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.