North Carolina DB Tony Grimes announces visit to Texas A&M

Former North Carolina defensive back Tony Grimes is on a visit at Texas A&M this week. The Tar Heels transfer shared the news of his arrival in a tweet on Thursday. He is coming off of a visit to Virginia Tech.

After visiting Texas A&M, Grimes has a visit set for USC.

Grimes spent three seasons with the Tar Heels, being one of the top corners in the ACC. He recorded 97 tackles throughout his career while getting an interception as well. He is the No. 11 best-available cornerback in the transfer portal, per On3’s rankings.

Back in College Station @AggieFootball #GigEm 👍🏾

— Tony Grimes (@757EliteDB) December 15, 2022

Grimes played high school football at Virginia Beach (VA) Princess Anne, where he was a five-star prospect. He was the No. 19 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

After COVID relief for the 2020 season, Grimes has two seasons left to play at his next school. He can play immediately in 2023 since this is his first transfer.

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 starts with the 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.

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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.

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 for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate the communication.

Track 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 our Transfer Portal Wire.

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.