Gators wing Kowacie Reeves Jr. to depart the basketball program

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida sophomore wing and former top recruit, Kowacie Reeves Jr., is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. Gators Online confirmed the news this afternoon.

During the 2022-23 season, the 6-foot-6 Reeves averaged 8.5 points and 2.6 rebounds, shooting nearly 38 percent from the field and just 26.2 percent from downtown. He started seven of the program’s first 10 games but came off the bench for the remainder of the season.

All in all, the Peach State native started in 17 of 60 games played and averaged 7.1 points and 2.1 rebounds. He entered the portal after his freshman season as well but returned to the program following several positive conversations with Todd Golden’s staff.

Now, however, Reeves is likely leaving the Gators’ program for good. This move was long expected.

A former top-30 recruit with On3, Reeves fell short of the lofty expectations but hopes a new change of scenery will catapult him back into the spotlight as a future NBA Draft pick. He will have plenty of suitors to choose from this second time around.

With Niels Lane expected to transfer as well, the Gators currently have seven roster spots they will need to replace. Additional departures could take place as well, so Golden is tasked with retooling the roster in a major way.

What Gators fans needs to know about the 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. 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 transfer 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.

Stay tuned to Gators Online.