Cornell wide receiver Nicholas Laboy receiving interest from ACC, Big Ten schools

Cornell wide receiver Nicholas Laboy entered the transfer portal on Nov. 8 as a graduate transfer.

Through 20 games in the last two seasons, the wideout has tallied 83 catches for 1,074 yards and four touchdowns. A Gaithersburg, Maryland, native, he’s averaged 12.9 yards per catch. He played at Avalon High School, which produced Dallas Cowboys star cornerback Trevon Diggs.

Now in the portal for nearly two weeks, a slew of teams have been in touch with the receiver. Laboy told On3 that Ohio, Maryland, Duke, Wisconsin, Pitt, Indiana, Wyoming, West Virginia, Georgia State and Miami (Ohio) have all been in contact with him. He’s yet to receive a scholarship offer, but that’s expected to change as college football wraps up its regular season.

The receiver said Duke could be a school to watch in his portal recruitment. At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, Laboy would bring veteran experience and depth to a wide receiver room immediately. His 705 receiving yards rank fourth in the Ivy League. He’s also attractive to a number of programs because he has two years of eligibility remaining thanks to his COVID-19 year.

Nicholas Laboy said he wants to play on the national stage at a school that also values academics.

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.