College basketball looks completely different in the age of the transfer portal, especially when it comes to recruiting. A large number of coaches are choosing to turn their backs on high school athletes all together.
Rick Pitino is one of many examples.
The 72-year-old college basketball coach recently confirmed that St. John’s is only looking to fill its roster for next season through the transfer portal. He has not even considered a single high schooler for this upcoming recruiting class because he needs guys who are ready to contend for a national title right away. Athletes who enter the portal already have experience against college competition. They don’t need time to develop.
College basketball recruiting focuses on the transfer portal!
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Nobody is going to pass on a generational talent like Cooper Flagg. The Boozer twins are considered to be can’t-miss prospects. A.J. Dybantsa is getting paid a monster fortune from BYU for a reason.
However, there are only a few high school guys each year who are worthy of a full-court press in recruiting. The lower-ranked athletes are getting squeezed out by the transfer portal. They are forced to play down on a mid-major or JUCO level, prove their worth as freshman, and eventually transfer back up to a bigger program. It is almost as if the Drakes, Yales, UC Irvines and High Points of the world are part of an unofficial minor-league system. And that doesn’t even include the guys who start at a program like Seton Hall and transfer up to a blue blood like Kansas.
This new reality has completely changed the recruiting calendar for college basketball coaches. One anonymous head coach on the Division-I level recently told 247 Sports analyst Carl Reed Jr. that he has not been to a high school gym in two years. He won’t attend a single travel basketball event during the offseason. His entire roster will be rebuilt through the portal. Not even one high schooler!
Imagine if you told Mike Krzyzewski in 2001 that his successor would never have to travel for another in-home recruiting visit or travel to watch a 17-year-old hoop in a small town in Oklahoma. He would laugh.
It will be interesting to see whether this new model is sustainable. I have my doubts but nothing is going to change in the near future so coaches have to do what makes sense for them until it does!