Gators QB Carlos Del Rio-Wilson to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

The University of Florida will be down one quarterback when they enter the first summer camp under Billy Napier.

Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, a redshirt freshman signal caller for the Gators, plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, he tells Gators Online. He did not appear in a game during his first year in Gainesville, resulting in a redshirt.

The Peach State native will have four years of eligibility at his next college of choice. He is expected to have plenty of suitors.

As a true freshman, Del Rio-Wilson had his work cut out for him, as Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson were above him on the depth chart. Fellow 2021 prospect Jalen Kitna was on the Gators’ roster as well.

While the season is still roughly four months away, Del Rio-Wilson was facing a similar situation in year two with the orange and blue.

Richardson will likely lead the program, while Jack Miller is also on the roster after transferring from Ohio State. Then you also have Kitna and true freshman quarterback Max Brown, who arrives on campus over the summer.

Simply put, a path to significant playing time was going to be difficult to come by for Del Rio-Wilson.

A graduate of Cartersville (Ga.) High, the 6-foot-2, 228-pound Del Rio-Wilson was a four-star prospect during the 2021 recruiting cycle. He was a top-20 prospect at his position and competed at the 2020 Elite 11 Finals as well.

According to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, Del Rio-Wilson was the No. 18 quarterback and No. 182 player overall. He was also the No. 16 senior in the state of Georgia.

What Del Rio-Wilson can expect in the NCAA Transfer Portal

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.

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.