Transfer portal target Fardaws Aimaq focused on top schools

On3 imageby:James Fletcher III04/06/22

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Former Utah Valley center Fardaws Aimaq has become a hot commodity in the transfer portal and has received several big offers over the past weeks. However, the two-time All-WAC selection and two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Year has narrowed his focus to a handful of elite programs which he is still considering, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.

Among those to make the cut, five Sweet 16 teams from this year’s NCAA Tournament feature alongside some highly ranked teams which made an earlier exit. Arizona, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Houston and Texas Tech all made the second weekend of the postseason and the cut for Aimaq.

In addition, Iowa is joined by Kentucky, Texas and Washington on the list as the remaining group in contention at this time.

Fardaws Aimaq has turned heads in the transfer portal after a big season at Utah Valley. He averaged 18.9 points and 13.6 rebounds with 1.3 blocks and 0.7 steals. The breakout center also shot 43.5 percent from the 3-point line on 46 attempts in his first season shooting consistently from deep.

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.

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.