Transfer Portal 2023

[So iLL 24]

Last year we lost the top talent in the league to the SEC and this year we are losing our top talent to the B1G.

Schurtz is reloading well via the portal (Indiana State fans should be happy). The rest of us MVC "BlueBloods" need to adapt quickly to our new reality.

I believe the portal can be good for EVERYONE. Power 6 schools will need to reload much faster, which means they will go after Conference USA, MVC, A10, and Mountain West players. We should be able to get better HS talent by offering more immediate playing time, development, etc. We will also grab the low level d1 talent as well to fill gaps year to year.

[BuBrave2006]

I get the complaining overall but the transfer portal can work to your benefit too.

When it comes to SIU, Domask and Jones spent their 4 years they signed on for and they didn't make it past Saturday in St. Louis, I wish they came back but I get that they both wanted to go somewhere to win. When it comes to Foster Wonders and Dalton Banks, both wanted more playing time. SIU fans were begging for Wonders to get more playing time and it never happened, I don't blame him for leaving.

Also, Domask to Illinois is very likely going to go down at any moment.

Yes. Seeing MVC fans complaining about the transfer portal in a season where Florida Atlantic and San Diego State made the Final Four is something.

Its really easy to complain when we haven't capitalized on the portal yet. It is undeniable that "so far" the MVC has lost significantly more talent via the portal over the last several years than we have brought in. Until the MVC starts bringing in players as good as the players that we are losing, many (myself included) will continue to remain skeptical to the belief that the transfer portal isn't hurting the mid majors a lot more than it is helping.

[SalukiWorld]

The MVC needs some better coaches then. Other conferences are faring just fine with coaches bringing in talented transfers.

[tribecalledquest]

The MVC needs some better coaches then. Other conferences are faring just fine with coaches bringing in talented transfers.

Right. The problem lies there - not with the portal.

Being the 16th/17th rated league is a joke.

[siudawgs]

The MVC needs some better coaches then. Other conferences are faring just fine with coaches bringing in talented transfers.

Right. The problem lies there - not with the portal.

Being the 16th/17th rated league is a joke.

I think you guys might be missing something here. I don't know how quite to articulate it, and I don't want to get too sappy/basketball romantic, but the portal and NIL era is about immediate gratification, flash and money. The MVC has been built on basketball-loving communities in the midwest and developing gritty teams that grow together over several years.

You may laugh that off but I think there's something there ... it's hard to fall in love with Carbondale or Cedar Falls or Normal, etc., in a whirlwind four-week spring portal recruiting cycle. And there aren't many schools in the Valley heavy on deep-pocketed donors.

I know it's the reality and it's adapt or die, but that doesn't mean it's a favorable reality for a league like the MVC. Small sample size, but so far, the concerns seem justified.

[Dawgbit]

The MVC needs some better coaches then. Other conferences are faring just fine with coaches bringing in talented transfers.

Right. The problem lies there - not with the portal.

Being the 16th/17th rated league is a joke.

I think you guys might be missing something here. I don't know how quite to articulate it, and I don't want to get too sappy/basketball romantic, but the portal and NIL era is about immediate gratification, flash and money. The MVC has been built on basketball-loving communities in the midwest and developing gritty teams that grow together over several years.

You may laugh that off but I think there's something there ... it's hard to fall in love with Carbondale or Cedar Falls or Normal, etc., in a whirlwind four-week spring portal recruiting cycle. And there aren't many schools in the Valley heavy on deep-pocketed donors.

I know it's the reality and it's adapt or die, but that doesn't mean it's a favorable reality for a league like the MVC. Small sample size, but so far, the concerns seem justified.

You are not being sappy at all. Quoting Charles Barkley again, there is (was) an innocence about college basketball. However, that was in “the old days”, as in three years ago. My wife and I went to the very first college game that Marcus Domask played. It was a six hour drive to the tournament in Estero, FL. Before the game we met his parents, one set of grandparents, along with other Saluki fans at the hotel bar. Watching players develop at this level is very much like watching your own kids mature. They felt like family to you, I suppose because they were family. Had similar experiences with Marcus Timmons, Matt Shaw, Kent Williams et al through the years. But now, in pursuit of the almighty dollar, and under the guise of “they deserve to get paid”, the TV networks are seeking to maximize their profits, part of which flows through to the schools with the biggest viewership. So now, every year, we have a player auction. The bigger conferences skim the cream off the top, and life is good, correct? I have a suggestion, don’t high school players “deserve to get paid” also? Why do this at the college level and not the high school level? Let’s just make it a total cluster.

[PretzelDawg]

Conference football schools have adapted to the portal and know how to bring in the right players. Maybe the basketball schools need to take a lesson from their brethren who wear the pads on how to make the portal work for them too.

[sivert]

I think the MidMajors need to do some consulting with contract attorneys. The NCAA doesn't permit schools to tie NIL to recruitment or retention. But I would think a contract could be drawn up that would give the school a half interest in the student's future NIL after a transfer. Then the kid would come in knowing that if he stays, he gets all his NIL, but if he leaves he has to return half the NIL to the original school. There's a clear basis for this since the first school's investment has obviously raised the income potential of the student.

[Adunk33]

I think the MidMajors need to do some consulting with contract attorneys. The NCAA doesn't permit schools to tie NIL to recruitment or retention. But I would think a contract could be drawn up that would give the school a half interest in the student's future NIL after a transfer. Then the kid would come in knowing that if he stays, he gets all his NIL, but if he leaves he has to return half the NIL to the original school. There's a clear basis for this since the first school's investment has obviously raised the income potential of the student.

Isn't this what they do with coaches? Something like, "If you leave before you contract expires you owe us $XXX,XXX" then the new school just gives the coach that amount in a "signing bonus."

[BCPanther]

The NIL contracts aren't with the school. That's the whole point of NIL. It's to get kids paid without the schools having to pony up.