USC loses Reese Dixon-Waters, Malik Thomas to NCAA transfer portal

USC saw their season end in disappointing fashion, dropping in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Michigan State. A few days later, head coach Andy Enfield is already seeing roster movement as two players have entered the transfer portal.

Two sophomores will be looking for new homes next season. According to On3’s Jamie Shaw, Reese Dixon-Waters and Malik Thomas have placed their name in the portal.

Of the duo, Dixon-Waters played a bigger role this past season. He was nearly a double-figure scorer, averaging 9.8 points per game. Dixon-Waters shot well from inside the arc, coming in at 43.8% from the field. Struggles came from three, shooting 29.6%.

Thomas did not get as many minutes, only play eight a night. The guard did not fare well as a shooter either, dropping 2.4 points per game. In just his second season in college basketball, there is still some potential untapped for Thomas.

Dixon-Waters played high school basketball at Playa Del Rey (CA) St. Bernard, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 109 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As for Thomas, he played high school basketball at La Verne (CA) Damien, where he was a NUMBER-star prospect. He was the No. 78 overall recruit in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

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.