Multiple top programs reaching out to West Virginia transfer Jose Perez
When Jose Perez originally hit the NCAA transfer portal, he was a popular man. West Virginia won out for his services, making him a part of the 2023-2024 plans under Bob Huggins. Since then, Huggins has been fired and leadership has changed in Morgantown.
Perez opted to jump back into the portal and is once again wanted by multiple top programs. According to On3’s Joe Tipton, the Xavier Musketeers are the latest to join the party, adding to the five others currently involved. West Virginia is still fighting to keep Perez as well.
“Xavier is the latest school to jump into the mix with West Virginia transfer Jose Perez, per source,” Tipton said. “Oregon, Gonzaga, Georgia Tech, Cal, and Michigan also involved. Will visit Michigan on July 28-30. West Virginia staff continues to recruit him back to Morgantown.”
Perez last played during the 2021-2022 season with Manhattan before the entire staff was fired just before the beginning of the 22-23 campaign. Meaning, this is nothing new for Perez who is going through this kind of scenario for the second time.
On the court, Perez has averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game throughout his career. Gardner-Webb and Marquette are also programs Perez has played for. If he does not return to West Virginia, it will make school No. 5.
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.