09-14-2023, 08:06 AM
Well they have. What had been an occasional unicorn transfer gave way to our current roster now having Bernadel, Mayberry, Lamson, Butler, Lytle, Bank, Holt, and Warford (non-scholarship as far as I know but seems like he could be moderately significant). Sea change. Maybe we need more, but if we get 6-8 transfers a year and if improvement in the program allows us to shop in a higher end part of the transfer portal than what we did this off-season, I think that could be ok. It's not going to ever replace the imperative of high school recruiting for us (or the imperative of retention in dissuading key players from straying for greener pastures). But we had three transfers starting against USC. That's not nothing.
Moreover, there is a major story about the portal that I admit I have been slow to internalize and I wouldn't be surprised if you and others have been too. The NCAA changed the rules on transferring multiple times. My understanding is now undergrad transfers will be able to transfer once. If they want to transfer a second time they have to sit out a year unless they are granted a waiver for physical or mental well-being, exigent circumstance (e.g., physical or sexual assault or discrimination based on a protected class), or diagnosed education impacting disabilities. I don't know how this is going to play out but I suspect it will be a significant brake compared to the last two years, and potentially very significantly impact the QB transfer landscape. Will this help Stanford because transfers become a somewhat less salient part of the landscape and the market becomes a bit less efficient for transfer-reliant programs? Will it hurt Stanford because our players are so much more likely to have the transfer bullet in the chamber than players elsewhere that our players will become hot commodities for poachers elsewhere? I don't know, haven't really thought about it much and even if I had this feels like something with a lot of moving parts and difficult to predict second and third order consequences.
Moreover, there is a major story about the portal that I admit I have been slow to internalize and I wouldn't be surprised if you and others have been too. The NCAA changed the rules on transferring multiple times. My understanding is now undergrad transfers will be able to transfer once. If they want to transfer a second time they have to sit out a year unless they are granted a waiver for physical or mental well-being, exigent circumstance (e.g., physical or sexual assault or discrimination based on a protected class), or diagnosed education impacting disabilities. I don't know how this is going to play out but I suspect it will be a significant brake compared to the last two years, and potentially very significantly impact the QB transfer landscape. Will this help Stanford because transfers become a somewhat less salient part of the landscape and the market becomes a bit less efficient for transfer-reliant programs? Will it hurt Stanford because our players are so much more likely to have the transfer bullet in the chamber than players elsewhere that our players will become hot commodities for poachers elsewhere? I don't know, haven't really thought about it much and even if I had this feels like something with a lot of moving parts and difficult to predict second and third order consequences.