As a Division III college freshman from Harlem, I’ve always stood for and believed in three core values: loyalty, hustle and team chemistry. In high school, I followed sports closely — watching prodigies and players, studying the game and admiring those who stuck with their teams through hardship. But the sports world has changed. One word is responsible for this shift: portal.

The NCAA portal has disrupted collegiate sports, and I’m not watching this through ESPN, Twitter or Instagram posts — I’m living it, hearing it and feeling the shift firsthand as a student athlete and a young woman trying to find her voice in sports journalism.

Launched in October 2018, the portal is a compliance tool that allows the transferring process to be as transparent and efficient as possible. Within that same year, more than 15,000 students from D-I and II schools entered their names in the portal. The portal was also open to D-III schools as well, but transferring rules run differently for those attending high major schools. These numbers continued to skyrocket, which called into question the relationships between coaches prior to the portal. With the addition of name, image and likeness, there was no turning back.

I have been surrounded by........

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