LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The transfer portal is the greatest thing that has ever happened to college basketball.
It gives players the freedom that coaches and basic college students enjoy — to change their minds or majors and even change campuses without the fear of penalty.
But what do you, the fan, think about the popularity of portal?
The transfer portal is a good thing but not a great thing for college basketball.
Some players can improve their situations, visibility and earnings. But others suffer. They receive bad advice about using the portal and leave themselves without a place to play or pursue their education. They diminish their opportunities to earn a degree.
But how do you, the paying customer, view the portal?
The transfer portal is the most alarming development in college basketball in many years.
Coaching staffs scout and develop players who become contributors. Then coaches at low- and mid-major programs discover those guys are gone, chasing an upgrade to a sexier destination. Coaches are recruiting players and players are recruiting schools during sideline breaks in game action.
But what do you, the person who invests hours watching games every week, think about the way the portal has changed the game?
The transfer portal is the worst thing that has ever happened to college basketball — and nothing else is close.
Players mislead coaches. Coaches mislead players. Rosters churn on a daily basis. The concepts of patience and learning how to overcome adversity are becoming lost skills.
Chaos reigns.
Those are most, but not all, of the leading takes on what is going on in the game today. But those are the views of players, coaches and media members.
There is a group whose opinions have not been collected and considered:
I'm talking about you — fans, the paying customers, the people outside the program watching the circus unfold.
What do you think about the current state of the game?
Do you like it?
Are you encouraged by the direction of college basketball — or actually all of college sports because players in every sport can use the portal?
Or are you discouraged and concerned because the model that college athletics has followed for decades has radically shifted?
Are you confused and uncertain what to think?
I've talked to a number of people who are not in favor of the swift acceleration and acceptance of portal madness. I'm not talking about the opinions dropped by Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and ESPN analyst Dick Vitale in the last week.
The tug-of-war about the benefits and the downside of the portal has accelerated this spring.
Although I've seen posts about nearly 2,000 players from every level of men's college basketball entering the portal since the end of the season, the current counter at on3.com shows that 986 men's Division I players have entered the portal, and 212 guys have committed — a list that includes three former Louisville players with El Ellis headed to Arkansas; Jae'Lyn Withers bound for North Carolina and Kamari Lands committed to Arizona State.
NEWS: Louisville transfer El Ellis has committed to Arkansas, he tells @On3sports. Averaged 17.7 PPG and 4.4 APG this season. Story w/ quotes: https://t.co/v12fkXYIwM pic.twitter.com/TrtyHDBjaD
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 17, 2023
This is not a criticism of those three guys, even Lands, a freshman. They made their decisions with the blessing of U of L coach Kenny Payne.
I believe one fix should be explored: making players stay two years in a program before they can leave without sitting out a season. Exceptions should be granted for players who are dealing with a coaching change.
Otherwise, if you commit to a school, you need to stay two seasons before you can transfer with immediate eligibility.
Learn how to deal with not getting the playing time or the number of shots that you believe you deserve. Figure out how to adapt or change without running to the next opportunity.
Like Izzo, McCaffery and Vitale, I fell in love with college basketball during a time when freshmen played freshman basketball. Lew Alcindor matriculated from Power Memorial High School in New York City for UCLA and played on the freshman team for one year for the Bruins.
He invested an entire season with acclimating to the college life and a fresh environment on the West Coast before he led UCLA to back-to-back-to-back NCAA titles, started his Hall of Fame NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and eventually changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
I've read in several books that Alcindor was unhappy at times during his freshman season and considered a transfer. He stayed. He dominated. He became the guy that I believe is the best college/NBA player ever.
We're not going back to that. And we shouldn't. No way. Freshman have been eligible immediately and succeeded since the 1972-73 season. They are an essential part of the game.
But the transfer portal situation has people lined about to argue about whether it's the best thing or the worst thing that has happened to college basketball.
I wonder what you think. You're helping to pay the tab.
Please share your thoughts in comments on Twitter and Facebook — or send an email to rbozich@wdrb.com.
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