Georgia Tech transfer receiver Bailey Stockton will be a Florida Gator. Stockton, who just completed his redshirt sophomore season, has committed to Jon Sumrall’s program.
He had 21 catches for 233 yards last season. For his college career, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Stockton has 38 receptions for 439 yards and one touchdown with a long catch of 33 yards. Additionally, he has returned 11 punts for 115 yards with a long of 28 yards.
Stockton has played in 26 college games.
At Georgia Tech, he played under new Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. Meanwhile, he not only was teammates the past two seasons with Georgia Tech transfer quarterback Aaron Philo, but the two were high school teammates at Bogart (Ga.) Prince Avenue Christian. Philo is a big Gators target and is expected to also land at UF.
Stockton won two state titles in high school. He caught 74 passes for 1,425 yards (19.3 avg.) and 22 touchdowns as a senior in 2022.
The Rivals Industry, a weighted average of the three major recruiting services, lists Bailey Stockton as a 3-star transfer and the No. 101 transfer receiver.
The NCAA Transfer portal runs from Jan. 2-16.
Bailey Stockton strengths and weaknesses
Bailey Stockton strengths: Speed and acceleration, agility, route running, reliability catching the ball, versatility, winning pedigree.
Stockton weaknesses: Size and strength, modest college production, yards after the catch.
Transfer portal background information
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.
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.