The Athletic - Are so many transfers good for women’s college basketball?

[Gordo]

Players with superior talent have always done exactly what they're doing now ... making the best selection for themselves to hopefully achieve the goals set for themselves. The only difference now is that with the transfer portal they have an opportunity to change schools (even within the same conference) without penalty. They no longer have to sit out a year. Add in the NIL factor and the pot thickens ... considerably in some cases. The top schools (meaning those ranked consistently in the Top 25 year in and year out), will for the most part remain unchanged.

As to the fears expressed by some that too many will be in the transfer portal and there will not be enough schools to accommodate them. Really??? I don't envision that happening. Where are the statistics to back up these kinds of comments? If true (to some small degree), most likely the player's evaluation of their talent was highly overrated and unrealistic. Life itself includes many "risks" along the way. Some times you choose correectly, some times you don't.

 

[cancontent]

Talent follows the money. It always has and it always will.

We're going to see a very different kind of WCBB- the large, wealthy schools (private & public) are simply going to buy the best players. Academics or lack thereof simply won't factor in for the elite players, not when they can become millionaires at 18-19 thanks to NIL. The big factor IMO will be playing time- the more playing time the more money potentially available.
I won't be surprised if one & done becomes a trend for elite women players just as it has for elite male players (unless the WNBA balks but I don't think they will, money talks to them too & they're not going to turn down the opportunity to showcase Player X just because she left after only 1 year of college).

If you think it is bad now, tune in 5 years from today, it will be worse. Like the Cyndi Lauper song says, "Money Changes Everything"

Yes talent follows money but it doesn't necessarily guarantee more titles and success. Too many pro teams have taken that approach and it's bombed.

We'll see what happens in 5 years. I'm skeptical that it will make things worse as programs will need to prove they can succeed this way. How many coaches have the ability to meld pieces together and be successful? It's going to be a tougher test for them than some realize.

Sure Mulkey has done it this season. She now has to prove she can do it again. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. But one thing for sure, there's a lot more buzz around the 2023-2024 season because of all the changes due to the portal.