In reply to: The Portal. posted by TWO
He came in with the Utah State crew that was hired in total last year. Some kids on the roster were excited and others more unsure. They sat down and talked to everyone. A few entered the portal even though the coaches didn't want them to leave. So the coaches moved on and began pursuing replacements in the form of HS recruits, Jucos and transfers. He specifically mentioned one kid having second thoughts maybe 6 weeks later. The coaches had moved on and filled the slot.
It is a two-way street. If a player enters the portal, you need to get out there looking as a coach. And there can be no guarantee of not losing your slot. Every player should be cognizant of that.
If I were a player, I'd think about the downside scenarios. What if I can't find a good fit? What if I go somewhere and then get beat out? Like Wimbush.
If a player quits the team, a school can cancel his scholarship immediately. However, when a player asks to be put in the portal, the school can't cancel his scholarship until the end of the semester. The difference being one can still be on a team while in the portal. You'll see a lot of players entering the portal right after the spring semester starts for this reason; they know they'll have their scholarship for the rest of the year. If they enter the portal in the fall, there's no guarantee there will be a scholarship for them in the spring.
As to whether or not they'll have a scholarship the next academic year if they come back, that kind of depends on the sport and the situation. Basketball and football probably has less wiggle room, whereas a sport like track or softball might bring someone back.
A lot of players in the portal are there because they don't have a scholarship waiting for them at their old school. Either they were nonscholarship to begin with or their coach told them they weren't going to have their scholarship renewed at the end of the year already.
Here's an interesting article that covers the realities of the transfer portal.
Essentially, a school can only take 25 "initial counters" per year, up to 85 total scholarships. New recruits, juco transfers, and players from the transfer portal count against that 25/85. So unless one is a top-tier player, there may be a bit of a waiting game as all the things detailed in the original post shake out - coaches, commits, other higher priority transfers.
The article brings up the situation of a player entering the transfer portal, finding no takers, but then their original school needs to cut down to their 85 limit. An "easy" way to do that is to not extend another year of a scholarship offer to the player in the portal.