7-foot-3 transfer center Connor Vanover commits to Missouri

Former Oral Roberts center Connor Vanover has committed to Missouri and head coach Dennis Gates, he told On3.

The 7-foot-3 graduate transfer averaged 12.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game this season for the Golden Eagles. Vanover began his college career at Cal before transferring to Arkansas for two seasons.

Vanover broke down his decision to choose Mizzou with On3.

“I chose Missouri because of fit and style of play. They have one of the top offenses in America and I am excited to be a part of what Coach Gates is building in Columbia. I loved my visit meeting and spending time with staff. I feel my unique skill set can help compliment many areas.”

Vanover, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas contributes much of the reason of his choosing Missouri to Tigers’ assistant David Nutt, along with head coach Dennis Gates.

“Coach Nutt and I had a good connection from our first phone call with his ties with Little Rock. Coach Gates is one of the hottest coaches in America. I believe they can help me reach more of my potential than I have before.”

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

Connor Vanover is headed to Mizzou, 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.