Names to watch in quarterback Cameron Ward's portal recruitment

Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward officially entered the transfer portal on Friday.

While he did not make any visits, nearly every school in the quarterback market this offseason expressed interest or communicated with Ward’s camp this weekend. Sources have confirmed to On3 that Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and USC have emerged as names to watch throughout the quarterback’s recruitment.

A former no-star recruit, Ward spent two seasons at Washington State after transferring in from Division II Incarnate Word. He started 25 games for the Cougars, throwing for more than 6,400 yards and 43 touchdowns while adding 11 more scores on the ground.

The quarterback is not closing the door on the NFL, sources have emphasized to On3.

“After a lot of reflection, I will be evaluating the entering the 2024 NFL draft as well as intending to enter my name into the transfer portal,” he wrote on Friday in a post.

All the schools on the watch list for Ward need a quarterback.

Florida State is losing Jordan Travis, leaving freshman Brock Glenn and 2024 recruit Luke Kromenhoek. Experience will be key in adding a quarterback in Tallahassee.

Miami lost Tyler Van Dyke to the portal last week. Ohio State’s quarterback room was turned upside down Monday morning, with starter Kyle McCord hitting the portal. Oregon and Washington are both losing proven starters in Bo Nix and Michael Penix, respectively.

Wisconsin has been in touch with Ward since Friday, a source confirmed to On3. And Lincoln Riley has been hunting for a starter, with Caleb Williams expected to leave for the NFL.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

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.