BREAKING: NC State QB Ben Finley enters transfer portal
NC State redshirt-sophomore quarterback Ben Finley has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, TheWolfpacker.com confirmed Wednesday morning. The former Wolfpack quarterback spent three seasons in Raleigh, most notably leading the team to a double-overtime win over UNC.
Finley played during the Pack’s spring game April 8 but will now find a new collegiate home in 2023 . During the 2022 season, Finley played in 3 games, throwing for 741 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
The former Wolfpack quarterback started his first game of the year against No. 17 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and excelled, completing 27 of 40 passes for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns, helping the Wolfpack pull off a 30-27 win.
He also started the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl, throwing 48 passes for 269 yards and 2 interceptions during the 16-12 loss.
Finley is from Arizona and committed to the Wolfpack Nov. 18, 2018, joining the program as a part of the 2020 recruiting class. The On3 Industry Rating considered him the No. 44 quarterback in the nation. Coming out of high school, he also held offers from Arizona State, Iowa State, Arizona and others.
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.
