Getty Image / Rich Schultz
When the NCAA instituted the transfer portal in 2018, it changed college sports for good. And, when each player was given one free transfer during the COVID pandemic, a rule that has now become permanent, there was effectively free agency for every player in every NCAA sport.
It’s huge in football, but it’s probably even bigger in basketball. According to 247Sports, 1700 players in Division 1 college hoops entered the transfer portal this year by the time the window for undergraduate players to enter closed.
Some big names have entered, like Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson and UNC’s Caleb Love. And, another big-time impact player entered the transfer portal on Friday in Rutgers sharpshooter Cam Spencer.
Rutgers guard Cam Spencer has gone portaling as a grad transfer, source told @Stadium.
Spencer averaged 13.2 points last season after transferring from Loyola Maryland.
Has shot 41 percent from 3 in his college career.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 19, 2023
Here is 247Sports with more information.
Rutgers star guard Cam Spencer entered the college basketball transfer portal Friday morning, as NJ Advance Media’s Brian Fonseca first reported. The 6-foot-4, 207-pound Spencer — who transferred to the Scarlet Knights from Loyola Maryland before the 2022-23 season — was Rutgers’ leading scorer at 13.2 points per game.
Spencer was a senior but has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A starter in all 34 of Rutgers’ games, Spencer shot 44.4% from the field and 43.4% on 3-pointers. He rounded out his production with averages of 3.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 31.6 minutes per game for Rutgers, which went 19-15 overall and 10-10 against Big Ten play while narrowly missing the 2023 NCAA Tournament among the first four teams out.
This is quite a blow for Rutgers. Teams such as UNC and Georgetown have been linked with landing Cam Spencer out of the transfer portal.