Virginia DB Cam'Ron Kelly enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Virginia defensive back Cam’Ron Kelly has entered the Transfer Portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. Kelly recently transferred to UVA from North Carolina, where he was an All-ACC selection in 2021, but is now back in the portal and will be one of the top DBs on the market.

In that 2021 season with the Tar Heels, Kelly garnered third team All-ACC honors as a safety after tying for the most interceptions that year (four) while breaking up three passes and making 68 total tackles. His numbers weren’t quite as strong in 2022 but he was still a terrific back-end player for the Heels.

Kelly played high school football at Chesapeake (VA) Oscar Smith, where he was a four-star recruit in the 2019 class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. He was also rated as the No. 206 overall player and No. 5 player in the state of Virginia.

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.