[81alum]

Women's college basketball transfer rankings 2023-24: Top 35 players in the portal (espn.com)

Oregon loses both starting guards and post.  Duke loses both starting guards. Louisville loses both Van Lith and Verhurst both starting guards.

Duke has now lost a third starter, who is eligible for a 5th 'COVID' year.

Just wonder how many college coaches would prefer to go back to the previous transfer rule where a player has to sit out for a year (with exceptions) unless they are a grad transfer?

Most coaches who love the X's and O's of the game don't really like recruiting, but see it as a necessary evil.  And now they need to not just recruit a few new players for their team every year, they have to recruit potentially the entire team every year.  Those players that do NOT enter the transfer portal are probably approached and "recruited" to stay put.  It must be an absolute nightmare.  Rather than being a basketball coach, you have become a personnel manager.

Furthermore, it has to undermine whatever sense of discipline a coach tries to instill. The good side of this is that coaches that are abusive will rapidly find their team vanishing. But what about a coach that is professional but critical? Does coaching now go the way of grade inflation?

I remember Tara saying at a press conference this year something like "You know, coaching is not like giving out candy. You have to make corrections." She is normally so taciturn that the remark stuck with me. In retrospect, I wonder if more was on her mind.

[81alum]

Women's college basketball transfer rankings 2023-24: Top 35 players in the portal (espn.com)

Oregon loses both starting guards and post.  Duke loses both starting guards. Louisville loses both Van Lith and Verhurst both starting guards.

Duke has now lost a third starter, who is eligible for a 5th 'COVID' year.

Just wonder how many college coaches would prefer to go back to the previous transfer rule where a player has to sit out for a year (with exceptions) unless they are a grad transfer?

Most coaches who love the X's and O's of the game don't really like recruiting, but see it as a necessary evil.  And now they need to not just recruit a few new players for their team every year, they have to recruit potentially the entire team every year.  Those players that do NOT enter the transfer portal are probably approached and "recruited" to stay put.  It must be an absolute nightmare.  Rather than being a basketball coach, you have become a personnel manager.

Furthermore, it has to undermine whatever sense of discipline a coach tries to instill. The good side of this is that coaches that are abusive will rapidly find their team vanishing. But what about a coach that is professional but critical? Does coaching now go the way of grade inflation?

I remember Tara saying at a press conference this year something like "You know, coaching is not like giving out candy. You have to make corrections." She is normally so taciturn that the remark stuck with me. In retrospect, I wonder if more was on her mind.