Florida defensive lineman Will Norman will enter transfer portal

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•11/29/23•

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida freshman defensive lineman Will Norman will enter the transfer portal, sources tell Gators Online. Norman has informed the coaching staff of his decision.

Norman spent just one season with the Gators, playing in four games. He registered his first career tackle in Florida’s win against McNeese.

Norman was a 4-star recruit who came to Florida from New Jersey. He was the No. 214 overall, No. 29 defensive tackle, and No. 2 senior in the state of New Jersey for the 2023 signing class. An Under Armor All-American, Norman came to college with big plans for his freshman season.

“Just watching the team, I feel like I could definitely see myself as being an early impact (player),” Norman told Gators Online at the Under Armour game. “I can definitely see myself getting in and just being somebody early in the system. That just means a lot to me, especially at the highest level being in the SEC. I can definitely see myself making an early impact.”

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. 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.

The window for FBS players to enter the portal opens on Dec. 4 and closes after 30 days on Jan. 2, 2024. 

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