I mean, the portal as it currently exists has only been around for a few years, so it's hard to look historically at teams trying to build their roster with primarily transfers when, you know, that wasn't really possible even five years ago. I think we are seeing more top teams utilize the portal in various ways to find their top guy whi…
I mean, the portal as it currently exists has only been around for a few years, so it's hard to look historically at teams trying to build their roster with primarily transfers when, you know, that wasn't really possible even five years ago. I think we are seeing more top teams utilize the portal in various ways to find their top guy while using high school recruiting and development to create a supporting cast. UConn has essentially done that the past few years, with last year in particular being driven by two transfer guards supplemented by good recruiting.
I definitely don't think this is a sustainable model yet in college basketball, but I think last year represented such a miss as far as roster construction that it required the complete reset that we are seeing. Instead of the young and raw prospects from last year, you now have a team with a ton of high-level basketball experience (important to note that Dominick Harris, while he played sparingly, did start his career at Gonzaga) while also seeing a huge upgrade in athleticism. Also, for all the departures, four of last year's newcomers are still here, and may actually get to do the things they were supposed to do last year, which was develop more slowly while adjusting to the game (Sebastian Mack in particular seems like someone who will benefit from not feeling like he has to carry so much of the load on offense). I still think Mack and Stefanovic will play significant minutes, and we will probably still see Brandon Williams play a bit this year, but I'm pretty sure the idea last year was not to have those three start and play heavy minutes all season.
I mean, the portal as it currently exists has only been around for a few years, so it's hard to look historically at teams trying to build their roster with primarily transfers when, you know, that wasn't really possible even five years ago. I think we are seeing more top teams utilize the portal in various ways to find their top guy while using high school recruiting and development to create a supporting cast. UConn has essentially done that the past few years, with last year in particular being driven by two transfer guards supplemented by good recruiting.
I definitely don't think this is a sustainable model yet in college basketball, but I think last year represented such a miss as far as roster construction that it required the complete reset that we are seeing. Instead of the young and raw prospects from last year, you now have a team with a ton of high-level basketball experience (important to note that Dominick Harris, while he played sparingly, did start his career at Gonzaga) while also seeing a huge upgrade in athleticism. Also, for all the departures, four of last year's newcomers are still here, and may actually get to do the things they were supposed to do last year, which was develop more slowly while adjusting to the game (Sebastian Mack in particular seems like someone who will benefit from not feeling like he has to carry so much of the load on offense). I still think Mack and Stefanovic will play significant minutes, and we will probably still see Brandon Williams play a bit this year, but I'm pretty sure the idea last year was not to have those three start and play heavy minutes all season.
All good thoughts, thanks for the discussion!