Report: Four major suitors emerge for expected Rutgers grad transfer Paul Mulcahy

alexweberON3

Rutgers guard Paul Mulcahy announced Friday morning that he would be entering the transfer portal ahead of his fifth and final year of college ball after spending all four years prior with the Scarlet Knights. This late in the offseason, he's an absolute gem that just surfaced in a vast and increasingly empty ocean. Predictably, some of the top hoops programs in the country are already after him.

According to Adam Zagoria, the following teams have already enquire about Mulcahy for once he does officially enter. Here was that report, which Zagoria posted a little bit later on Friday morning:

"Some early schools to reach out on Rutgers transfer Paul Mulcahy: Kentucky, Kansas State, Michigan, West Virginia. Averaged 8.3 ppg, 4.9 apg And 3.6 rpg And shot 37% from deep."

All very strong options. Let's get into them. First is Kentucky. Does more really need to be said about their appeal? The kid just played four years at Rutgers, surely a Uk offer would be a dream come true. And even on the court, the Wildcats desperately need experience and a few more bodies. Although, you’d have to think Mulcahy's interest in the ‘Cats will hinge on Antonio Reeves, who is still mulling over whether to transfer or not. If he bolts, expect John Calipari on the Mulcahys’ front doorstep the very next day.

As for Michigan, well, after losing Caleb Love over clerical issues, the Wolverines are still actively seeking another guard to pair with returnees Jaelin Llewellyn and Dug McDaniel. Meanwhile, Kansas State is another team who needs bodies and experience in the backcourt. Right now, they have just two guards with collegiate experience and neither is a true point guard — and Mulcahy answers all of those questions.

Lastly, West Virginia? The Mountaineers are still actively recruiting transfers? It's a serious question because WVU is absolutely loaded up on transfers already. Even in the backcourt, they already nabbed RaeQuan Battle and Kerr Kriisa and have some promising sophomores back there as well. Just seems like an odd addition to what's already a pretty crowded transfer class. This writer's money is on one of those other three spots.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3's Transfer Portal wire.

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 like Paul Mulcahy 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.