Transfer forward Ben Vander Plas narrows shortlist, includes big schools
Former Ohio forward Ben Vander Plas has narrowed his shortlist of schools after entering the transfer portal this offseason, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. The three-time All-MAC selection will choose between Illinois, Iowa State, Ohio State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.
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Before entering the transfer portal, Ben Vander Plas averaged 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists for Ohio in 2021-22. In 122 games over four seasons, he has started 93 games and will now use his fifth year of eligibility elsewhere.
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The Wisconsin native has his home-state school on the shortlist, as Ohio State which is closest to his current location. Virginia becomes notable because Ben’s father, Dean, played alongside Tony Bennett and eventually named his son after legendary coach Dick Bennett. Ben is in fact short for Bennett.
Illinois, Iowa State and Virginia Tech all made the 2022 NCAA Tournament and look to build on their progress by adding a 6-foot-8 impact forward to the lineup.
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.
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.