The NCAA transfer portal can be many things: an integral method of team building for up-and-coming programs, or a headache for coaches. It can also be used by athletes looking for a fresh start or to continue their academic careers.
The transfer portal opened in 2018 but didn’t become a popular feature of college sports until 2021, when the NCAA reversed a rule requiring all transfers to sit out the season immediately following their move.
Athletes transfer for many reasons, but an often-overlooked cause is advancing their academic careers. That can be especially enticing for student athletes who were granted an additional year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
In this edition of Beyond Sports, Illinois Wesleyan basketball standout Cody Mitchell explains academics was one of the main reasons he entered his name into the portal following his senior season with the program.
Mitchell called the process that led up to making the decision a “whirlwind.” The 6-foot-7 forward is leaving a Wesleyan program where he became a first-team All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection and almost tasted NCAA glory in 2022 when Wesleyan advanced to the Division III tournament Elite Eight.
Mitchell broke out in his junior season, jumping from an average of just over 8 points per game, to 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.
For Mitchell, his ultimate goal was earning a master’s degree. This is harder to do as a student athlete at a Division III school, as the schools cannot give athletic scholarships.
“My expectation was to get that discounted master’s (degree),” Mitchell said. “I knew that was something I could do and wanted to do.”
This is where athletes like Mitchell will use the portal to their advantage. Not knowing what to expect, Mitchell said he had close to 50 contacts from schools across the country within two days of entering his name into the graduate portal.
He chose Roosevelt University in Chicago, partly because of how close it is to his family in St. Charles, but also because of the opportunity to be a leader and a key player on a new roster, a position he’s in because of the flexibility of the transfer portal.
“It’s something I was super interested in; a couple of schools were out of contention because I want to lead. I want to go somewhere I can step into a leadership role, building a culture,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell detailed his experience in the transfer portal in a Substack column.
Roosevelt, in its first season coached by University of Illinois basketball legend Dee Brown, finished last season at 19-10. Roosevelt will move from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA] to NCAA Division II next season and will have full membership for the 2024-25 season.
Mitchell was not the only Illinois Wesleyan player to find a school. Teammate Lucas Heflen, another St. Charles native, will play basketball at Mississippi College as a graduate transfer.
