Minnesota transfer OL Cade McConnell commits to Vanderbilt

Former Minnesota offensive lineman Cade McConnell has committed to Vanderbilt out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, he announced on Friday. He will have multiple years of eligibility remaining.

In two seasons with the Gophers, McConnell did not see the field. He took a redshirt during the 2022 season.

He’s the son of a former NFL offensive lineman, Aaron McConnell, who played three years in the league, playing for the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons before a six-year stint in the AFL.

McConnell played high school football at Choctaw (Okla.) High School, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 666 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

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

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Background on the transfer portal

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 asynchronous 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.