West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo plans to visit North Carolina, Texas A&M

Another West Virginia transfer’s decision is on the horizon. On Thursday, Jon Rothstein announced Mountaineer James Okonkwo‘s planned visits.

“West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo plans to visit both North Carolina and Texas A&M, per his brother,” Rothstein wrote.

West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo plans to visit both North Carolina and Texas A&M, per his brother.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 2, 2023

Okonkwo is one of eight WVU players who entered the transfer portal following Bob Huggin’s arrest and, subsequent, resignation. In 31 games last season, Okonkwo averaged 2.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per outing while playing 11 minutes a night.

Standing at 6-foot-8, Okonkwo shined on defense. The England native led the Mountaineers last season with 22 blocks. Additionally, Okonkwo shot a respectable 57% from the field. Although Okonkwo never dominated for WVU, he showed flashes of greatness.

Last season, Okonkwo was specifically spectacular in West Virginia’s win over Oklahoma on Feb. 4. In the triumph, Okonkwo dropped his only collegiate double-double, boasting 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite his success, Okonkwo is new to basketball. The 21-year-old came to the United States in August 2020, where he attended Beckley Prep IJN in Beckley, West Virginia. Okonkwo is a blip on most college coaches’ radars, as just a three-star prospect in high school.

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.