Recruiting from the transfer portal

[radness]

Noticed looking through several D1 College rosters that literally 50% of their recruitment for 2023 came from the transfer portal.

Thats some heavy competition for graduating high school seniors!

not certain I like the always open door policy of wanting to transfer without sitting out a year.
So much fluctuation not enough dedication.

What say DFP
How much recruitment from transfer portal are you seeing?

 

[angispeds]

As a 2024 parent in the process right now I can say that we heavily evaluated the rosters of the schools we have chosen to focus on the last couple of years with regard to their portal use. I can’t decide if it indicates an inability to evaluate talent or an inability to develop talent but either way it’s something we have tried to stay away from. I think it definitely has affected the scholarship offers for most of the high school seniors as coaches are saving money. Top prospects are always going to get theirs especially if they under recruit a little bit but that next level kid is struggling for sure


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[LEsoftballdad]

The biggest issue I always had was that coaches never had to sit out a year if they got a job at another school, yet the players did. Now that the transfer portal has been used so heavily, I feel it's become a game of musical chairs.

The transfer portal hurts some girls. For example; OK State nabbed Lexi Kilfoyle off the portal from Alabama. If you're a 2023-2024 recruit focusing on that school, you may be pushed to the back burner. They now have an accomplished pitcher for at least another year instead of an unpolished pitcher coming out of high school. Lexi gives you an immediate chance to win now, which is great for the coaching staff today, but now they might skip a 2023 kid and focus on a younger class for when she's gone. Also, they might just nab someone else from the portal next year.

I think the portal might help some girls move up from a Mid-Major to a P5 school after a year or two of seasoning, but it can definitely hurt the HS girls.

I guess I'm torn. They should be able to go where they want, but it can definitely impact younger players negatively.

 

[Vertigo]

It really hurts a lot. Between the extra year players and the portal a lot of 2021’s - 2023’s got the short end of the stick.

 

[Vertigo]

I also wonder if this is (IMHO) why we’re starting to see more D1 talent playing at the D3 level? They are going where they know they will have an impact from day 1.

 

[radness]

I also wonder if this is (IMHO) why we’re starting to see more D1 talent playing at the D3 level? They are going where they know they will have an impact from day 1.

Yes! Seeing that also.
Playing time and/or $$$$$

 

[wheresmycar]

What you are going to see is a shortage of 22 and 23 upperclassmen in the 2025 and 2026 seasons when the 5th year of eligibility finally ends. Top P5 programs will not have issues filling their rosters through the portal, but as you go down from there, lower tier programs are going to struggle.

 

[Hillhouse]

A LOT of the reason this is happening has to do with the side effects of Covid. Remember, coaches were prohibited from recruiting and scouting for a long time. This absolutley KILLED HS seniors at the time. Not only could they not play due to lockdowns (in some states) but even when they could play, the coaches weren't allowed to go see them. But when the time came to fill a team and get ready for the post-Covid seasons, getting established players from the portal was the best option to fill holes filled by graduations, etc. It'll be another couple years before things get back to normal altogther, when the last of players that still have a "Covid year" are done and gone. Those players with that extra year of eligibility needing to find new homes in many cases. Think of those players like the rental player that teams get at the MLB trade deadline: teams know that player is going to be a free agent at the end of the year but they still trade for him to help them push through the current season.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Yes! Seeing that also.
Playing time and/or $$$$$

I have a friend whose daughter was offered a D1 spot at a very good academic school in the America East Conference in June 2022 as a senior. She was already committed to a D3 in MA, but this school was closer to home and offered some money, which would have made it less expensive than the D3 school. Ultimately, the girl chose to stick with her D3 commitment. I think it was not wanting the crazy schedule that comes with D1, but I also think she wanted to play the field, hit, and pitch, which the D3 wanted from her, but the D1 did not.

 

[Top_Notch]

One coach told me that even though he could keep his players for another year, NCAA didn't expand scholarships. So, even if he did want another player, he had no money to give.


I am not a fan of the NCAA, and the Covid extra year and transfer portal has negatively affected recruiting for 2022, 2023, and lesser 2024's. IMO, transfer players should have to sit 1 year and the covid year should have never been offered. High schoolers lost a season to Covid, so college kids should have lost too. But in this day and age of everyone gets a trophy they (NCAA) offered the extra year, essentially shifting the burden to high school kids. So, high schoolers lost a year, have to wait for Covid extras as well as deal with the musical chairs of transfer portal. Terrible.