The Problem With Basketball's Transfer Portal on The Joe Gaither Show
It's one of the best weeks of the year if you're a sports fan as the first round of the NCAA Tournament gets underway. Outside of the big dance are other post season tournaments line the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), meaning plenty of post season play for the viewer to enjoy.
However as the post season gets underway tonight with the "First Four" in Dayton and the opening round of the NIT on college campuses everywhere there's a dark cloud hanging over the sport.
Multiple programs chose to opt out of participating in the NIT, citing reasons like student-athlete welfare and preparations for next season as the motivating factors to end the year early.
The college basketball transfer portal opened on Monday and will be open until May 1. Front Office Sports reported that almost 300 college basketball players entered the portal on Monday while Jeff Goodman set the number at 292 for the first day of action.
How is it fair for programs considering postseason action to manage its roster with invitations to continue playing? How much of Pittsburgh and Oklahoma's decision to forgo the NIT citing student-athlete welfare was due to portal opening and players wanting to make the most of their next moves? What about St. John's citing preparing for the next season as their reason for sitting out? Does Rick Pitino want to get a head start of roster construction after being snubbed by the NCAA Selection Committee?
That doesn't even begin to consider the 68 teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Should they be punished by missing out on potential players for the next year because they made their way to the big dance? Or should they sacrifice preparation in order to scout and call players who've put their name into the portal looking for a new home?
The implementation of transfer portal windows is a small step toward control, but to have it open the day after Selection Sunday creates a chaos the sport simply doesn't need.
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