Rhode Island transfer OT Ajani Cornelius to announce commitment on Wednesday

Rhode Island offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius entered his name in the transfer portal at the end of November and saw his name shoot to the top of transfer boards all over the country. After taking official visits to Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee and Ohio State, the No. 1 OT in the portal, per On3’s transfer rankings, plans to announce his decision on Wednesday at 6 p.m. He announced his decision date in a story post on Instagram.

Cornelius visited Nebraska and Oregon first, then received an offer from Ohio State. He visited Tennessee and then the Buckeyes leading up to his decision. He told reporters on his visits that he planned to decide before Christmas.

Cornelius started 22 games over the past two seasons for the Rams. The right tackle sat out his first two years on campus but took over the starting job at right tackle last year and earned All-CAA first-team honors this year.

Despite playing for the 7-4 FCS squad, Cornelius’s portal entry caught the attention of top FBS programs within 24 hours. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound sophomore went on to report two dozen offers within the next few days.

Thanks to the COVID year granted to all student-athletes for the 2020 season, Cornelius has three years of eligibility remaining to play two seasons.

Ajani Cornelius is a New York native. He played high school football at Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y. Coming out of high school, Cornelius had some FBS interest while committed to Howard at one point but ultimately signed with Jim Fleming at Rhode Island.

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 starts with the 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.

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 However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.

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 for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate the communication.

Track transfer portal activity

While the NCAA transfer portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement.

If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to our Transfer Portal Wire.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Consensus recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and senior national college football reporter Matt Zenitz’s Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.