Portal thoughts
If you are a University of Wyoming fan, or any college sports fan, you know the disappointment of seeing a promising Cowboy athlete make the announcement that he or she is entering the portal.
Just when you think that the Cowboys have players on which to build a successful program, those players make the move to transfer to another school.
Last week, head coach of
the Purdue Boilermakers, Matt Painter, commented on how the portal has impacted college sports and said, “You get them in the summer, you get them in the fall, and then you might lose them in the spring. It’s like dating in eighth grade. Everything’s changing, everything’s going a million miles
an hour.”
After reading that soundbite of Painter’s interview with Gannett New Jersey reporter Jerry Carino, it really got me thinking about the challenges that the transfer portal can and does present to college sports programs, and especially for our beloved UW.
The Cowboys are not a powerhouse among division one schools. However, the portal offers the opportunity for UW to pick up lesser known, but talented, athletes who may be using the school as a springboard to bigger, more successful programs.
While that may be good for the individual athlete, I don’t think it’s great for UW’s programs.
Imagine being a coach and trying to build a program with all new players year after year. Imagine getting an untested, but amazing freshman point guard who has the potential to change things up for your program, so you start to landscape your game to capitalize on his or her skills.
You work your tail off to build a system, to build chemistry, prowess and flow with the team throughout the season, and just as things are starting to look promising, that point guard has gained notoriety and suddenly announces his/her intent to enter the transfer portal.
How frustrating that must be, because now you’re back to the drawing board to rebuild the program next season. Whether it’s a point guard, a big underneath, a quarterback or running back, or whatever vital position on any sports team, losing talent to other, bigger D1 schools has to make the job of a college coach even more challenging.
Now, I’m not saying that athletes should be bound by the first college they commit to, because they should be able to play in whatever program fits, or suits them the best. If they have professional potential, they should be able to showcase their talents at schools that could give them the opportunity to attract the attention of NBA coaches.
However, I’m thinking that the transfer portal needs to be taken into consideration when fans — or anyone for that matter — evaluate the effectiveness of a coach when it comes to winning games.
Building a program requires some consistency, and the portal has the potential to diminish the ability to establish and maintain anything beyond a single season.
That makes it tough.
As Painter went on to say, “It’s the landscape. It’s not something that any of us created, but here it is. You’ve got people leaving, going in the draft, getting hurt, whatever it is, and then you’ve got new guys and you’re trying to build with all new guys. And it’s really hard…”