Former Clemson linebacker LaVonta Bentley to transfer to Colorado

Former Clemson linebacker LaVonta Bentley announced his commitment to transfer to Colorado on Monday. The Alabama native will play for new Colorado coach Deion Sanders in Boulder.

Bentley is the No. 19 best-available linebacker in the NCAA transfer portal, per the On3 transfer rankings.

Bentley is transferring to Colorado after spending four years at Clemson. He appeared in all 13 games for the Tigers this season, finishing with 21 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack.

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— lavonta bentley (@kingbentley0) December 19, 2022

During his four years at Clemson, Bentley recorded 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Bentley was a four-star prospect and the No. 323 overall player in the 2019 recruiting class, according to the On3 Consensus recruiting rankings. He was ranked as the No. 40 linebacker in the class and the No. 12 player in the state of Alabama, hailing from Birmingham (AL) Jackson-Olin.

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 starts with the 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.

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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.

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 for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate the communication.

Track transfer portal activity

While the NCAA transfer portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement.

If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to our Transfer Portal Wire.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Consensus recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and senior national college football reporter Matt Zenitz’s Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.