Auburn makes final group for top transfer Matthew Cleveland

Auburn on Saturday made the cut for one of the top transfer wings in the transfer portal.

Matthew Cleveland, who is ranked by On3 as the No. 12 uncommitted transfer, released his final three schools. They include Auburn, Missouri and Miami.

Auburn has signed two transfers during the spring window, combo guard Denver Jones and forward Chaney Johnson. Jones is transferring from FIU; Johnson from Alabama-Huntsville. The Tigers, however, continue to look for an impact player at the 3 spot.

Cleveland certainly fits the bill. He appears to be one of the top targets at the position for Auburn, along with Jaylon Tyson from Texas Tech. Tyson is working on setting a visit to the Plains in early May. Cleveland could do the same soon.

Cleveland, a top transfer target, eyeing visit to Auburn

Like Tyson, Cleveland has not locked in an official visit to Auburn, but could do so soon, according to a source close to his recruitment.

Cleveland, who is transferring from Florida State, has received several dates from Auburn from which to choose and is expected to decide on one.

He is one of the hottest names in the transfer portal. He entered the portal on April 11 and several colleges, including Auburn, were quick to reach out. And it’s easy to see why.

Cleveland led Florida State in scoring last season, averaging 13.8 points per game while shooting 44.5% from the floor and 35% from the 3-point line. He also averaged 7.4 rebounds per game.

Cleveland has two years of eligibility.

RELATED: On3 Transfer Ranking

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

The NCAA Transfer Portal

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.

More on the portal database

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.

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