Transfer Portal Tops 1000 and Counting

[oldude]

For the second year in a row, the WBB transfer portal has topped 1000 players today hitting 1007 with more names certainly to come. It remains to be seen whether this year’s number of transfers exceeds last year’s record of 1159. But I wouldn’t bet against it.

As has been discussed previously, the NCAA’s twin decisions last year to grant an additional “Covid year” to every college athlete, along with the decision to allow one “free” transfer to everyone without having to sit out a year has fueled a record number of transfers in WBB.

Many players listed in the portal will struggle to find new homes. A significant percentage are reserves and seniors, having completed 4 years of eligibility, who are simply trying to follow Rodney Dangerfield’s exhortation to the graduates of Grand Lakes University in the movie Back to School, “It’s a jungle out there. Don’t go!”

There will most certainly be a very active market for the top players, including the trio of starters from MD: Reese, Owusu & Collins. The next few weeks will undoubtedly be filled with some major surprises of additional top players hitting the portal as well as players announcing decisions.

One final point. Next year will be only the second of four seasons when players can use their Covid year for a 5th year of eligibility. While there is a basic unfairness to HS recruits from the classes of 2021-24, many of whom will sit behind 5th year players, the transfer portal in WBB has now become just as important, if not more important, than the recruitment of players out of HS.

It’s the Wild Wild West, and it will impact many aspects of WBB for the next three seasons. Stay tuned……

 

[Boreifs]

You are a college coach with your job on the line. Are you going to turn your program around with four unranked Freshmen or four grad students with proven college track records? Rhetorical question.

 

[Huskee11]

Head coaches better figure this out in a hurry or they will become former head coaches.

The rich will generally get richer, but not always as Maryland shows. Syracuse last year.

Like pro sports with two notable differences. - everybody is a free agent, and no salary cap.

 

[visitingcock]

I don't like it. No, I can't do anything about it. Yes, transfer opportunity needed to be opened up. Yeah, it is what it is and I might as well get used to it.

I loved tracking prospects in high school and loved the excitement of seeing them committ then develop with my team through all four years of their collegiate career. Now? It's hard to invest too much emotion into recruiting when you don't know if a kid will be with your team very long. Heck, look at Janiah Barker never even playing for Georgia (and I'm all for tranfer due to coaching change.

Note to self: Get out of the way old man, Change is here whether you like it or not.

Can it be tweaked? can't think of any way.

Get off my lawn!

 

[oldude]

You are a college coach with your job on the line. Are you going to turn your program around with four unranked Freshmen or four grad students with proven college track records? Rhetorical question.

Actually, I have less of a problem with that scenario than I do with top programs solidifying their dominance by securing 1-2 key transfers every season. If, for instance, Mimi Collins decided that her initial decision out of HS was the right state, but the wrong school, deciding this time on Vanderbilt, I would applaud her choice. But that’s highly unlikely.

Never has it been more obvious that “the rich just keep getting richer.”

 

[BBallF]

Great time to get a free Masters degree!

 

[Beemer]

Too many players chasing too few open spots. A lot of these kids will not get another scholarship offer.

Then what do they do???? I don't see much discussion about that.

 

[Boreifs]

Head coaches better figure this out in a hurry or they will become former head coaches.

The rich will generally get richer, but not always as Maryland shows. Syracuse last year.

Like pro sports with two notable differences. - everybody is a free agent, and no salary cap.

No salary but a roster cap. A coach has to prove to a transfer that there is playing time; it’s a slippery slope with no guard rails.

 

[Boreifs]

Too many players chasing too few open spots. A lot of these kids will not get another scholarship offer.

Then what do they do???? I don't see much discussion about that.

Exactly what every other college student does. No sympathy.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The blanket Covid year was a mistake IMO. It was fine to give seniors in 2020 an extra year, but beyond that, unnecessary.

 

[oldude]

Too many players chasing too few open spots. A lot of these kids will not get another scholarship offer.

Then what do they do???? I don't see much discussion about that.

Join the real world and get a job maybe…

 

[hoopsfan22]

Too many players chasing too few open spots. A lot of these kids will not get another scholarship offer.

Then what do they do???? I don't see much discussion about that.

Geno said that 2-300 of the kids in the portal will find they have no where to go and their old teams don't want them back. I guess it's a sobering moment of truth that you (or your parents) realize that you aren't as good as you thought you were, and you're going to have to go pro in something other than basketball and maybe even be forced to pay for your own education. The portal may giveth but it also taketh away while creating chaos and a secondary market for recruits plus all the improprieties that go along with that while the traditional enforcement agency sees itself out the door. It's a mess and will need refinement I think.

 

[LoboDays]

Are this year’s rules regarding all things Portal, the rules that will be in place going forward?

 

[sun]

Athletes have options to wait it out or to try to expand their school choices to mid-major programs.
They can join the military and delay going to school until afterward and still play sports.
Enlistment preserves their NCAA eligibility.
They'll be stronger, more mature and perhaps better able to compete.
They can also redshirt which allows them to develop their skills or academics.

When a lot of public schools were operating remotely, many kids fell behind in their studies and athletic development.
Many kids were also deciding against going to college which has now turned around to produce record enrollment at some schools.

Since 2000, the US population has increased by 47 million people.
Yet there hasn't been a corresponding increase in WBB scholarship opportunities.
There's bound to be a glut of athletes forever into the future simply due to population increases which means that college sports will become more competitive.
And this doesn't include the recruitment of international players from Europe and elsewhere where the population is also increasing.
There will always be more players than scholarships.
The portal glut probably only confirms that the problem exists, but not when it began.

In part, this why I complain about UConn not awarding the maximum number of scholarships that it's allowed.
Under Title lX, colleges are supposed to help women athletes obtain educational benefits equal to men.
UConn could do a better job by awarding more scholarships, perhaps even to a worthy CT high school player.

 

[oldude]

Are this year’s rules regarding all things Portal, the rules that will be in place going forward?

The additional Covid year of eligibility will phase out after the 2024-25 season. The one time transfer with immediate eligibility is a rule that will remain beyond the additional “Covid year” of eligibility.

 

[LoboDays]

The additional Covid year of eligibility will phase out after the 2024-25 season. The one time transfer with immediate eligibility is a rule that will remain beyond the additional “Covid year” of eligibility.

Thanks OD. Things may calm down a bit after a year or two when players see that things didn’t work out as planned for everyone entering the Portal.

Do you know what the rules are regarding schools contacting players….before/after their announcement to enter? I don’t spend time keeping up with stuff like this.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Thanks OD. Things may calm down a bit after a year or two when players see that things didn’t work out as planned for everyone entering the Portal.

Do you know what the rules are regarding schools contacting players….before/after their announcement to enter? I don’t spend time keeping up with stuff like this.

The process is controlled by the student-athlete and the portal is supposed to be confidential (so much for that one). Once in the portal, the student-athlete chooses whether they want schools to be able to contact them. Even if a student-athlete chooses not to be contacted I wouldn't be surprised if there is a lot of back-channeling going on to get around that, just like I wouldn't be surprised to hear of coaches trying to re-recruit players, or at the very least plant the seed, before they've entered the portal.

 

[oldude]

Thanks OD. Things may calm down a bit after a year or two when players see that things didn’t work out as planned for everyone entering the Portal.

Do you know what the rules are regarding schools contacting players….before/after their announcement to enter? I don’t spend time keeping up with stuff like this.

Contacting other teams players before they enter the portal is a violation of NCAA rules. After they place their name in the portal, the store is wide open for business.

With that said, there is a gray area where HS & AAU coaches, and in the case of Cardoso, the Brazilian Basketball Federation, reach out to college coaches about a particular player’s interest in transferring. This type of contact is not supposed to occur until a player’s name is in the portal. But I have my doubts.

 

[LoboDays]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[hard2please]

beam me up scotty!

 

[drweo]

For the second year in a row, the WBB transfer portal has topped 1000 players today hitting 1007 with more names certainly to come. It remains to be seen whether this year’s number of transfers exceeds last year’s record of 1159. But I wouldn’t bet against it.

As has been discussed previously, the NCAA’s twin decisions last year to grant an additional “Covid year” to every college athlete, along with the decision to allow one “free” transfer to everyone without having to sit out a year has fueled a record number of transfers in WBB.

Many players listed in the portal will struggle to find new homes. A significant percentage are reserves and seniors, having completed 4 years of eligibility, who are simply trying to follow Rodney Dangerfield’s exhortation to the graduates of Grand Lakes University in the movie Back to School, “It’s a jungle out there. Don’t go!”

There will most certainly be a very active market for the top players, including the trio of starters from MD: Reese, Owusu & Collins. The next few weeks will undoubtedly be filled with some major surprises of additional top players hitting the portal as well as players announcing decisions.

One final point. Next year will be only the second of four seasons when players can use their Covid year for a 5th year of eligibility. While there is a basic unfairness to HS recruits from the classes of 2021-24, many of whom will sit behind 5th year players, the transfer portal in WBB has now become just as important, if not more important, than the recruitment of players out of HS.

It’s the Wild Wild West, and it will impact many aspects of WBB for the next three seasons. Stay tuned……

Do those numbers include women and men? Only basketball, or other fall/winter sports as well? Only Div 1? If only Div 1 women's basketball, and if my rough calculation [ about 1000 players divided by around 350 teams] is correct, that's about three players per Div 1 team, which is astounding.

 

[oldude]

Do those numbers include women and men? Only basketball, or other fall/winter sports as well? Only Div 1? If only Div 1 women's basketball, and if my rough calculation [ about 1000 players divided by around 350 teams] is correct, that's about three players per Div 1 team, which is astounding.

The total is for D1 women only, so your estimate of about 3 transfers per D1 team is accurate.

 

[LoboDays]

It seems like it’s the college version of pro free-agency. Coaches and fans will just have to get used to the fact that they need to write down their potential rosters in pencil because it’s sure to change. I’m sure that many of the players deciding to enter the portal are not impact players looking for a program that will give them more playing time. That’s an opportunity for coaches to actually strengthen their roster by bringing in impact players who entered the portal. UCONN is smart not to put players names on the uniforms. Not that many people sew anymore.

 

[nwhoopfan]

But I have my doubts.

I do as well, and have suspected something close to tampering has been going on for a long time.