Iona grad transfer Quinn Slazinski, former St. John's signee, commits to West Virginia

Iona graduate transfer Quinn Slazinski, a former St. John’s signee, has committed to West Virginia, he told On3.

The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward recently decommitted from St. John’s and the Red Storm after being committed since April. Slazinski averaged 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season. The former four-star recruit began his college career at Louisville.

In an exclusive interview with On3, Quinn Slazinski discussed his decision to move on from St. John’s.

“I wanted a big role for my last year. When Pitino came to me and said he was going to add to the team, I understand he was doing what was best for the team success. Conversely, I have my own dreams I want to achieve. I was asked to stay after the decision to add another player (Chris Ledlum) came, but it didn’t line up with my goals. I thank Pitino for all he has done, but I want to be a a major part of a team success at this stage of my career.”

Slazinksi also discussed why he ultimately chose West Virginia.

“I have known the staff for many years now. Going to Huntington Prep, we were at many games at WVU, and it has everything I’m looking for. The fan base, mixers with the city of Morgantown had everything I wanted to offer. I’m so excited to get started, and most importantly win games.”

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

Quinn Slazinski headed to Morgantown, 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.