Caitlin Clark is one of the most influential athletes to emerge from college sports in recent years. After her stellar career playing women’s basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes, she became a WNBA star, selected No. 1 overall in 2024 by the Indiana Fever.
Clark appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast and expressed her strong opinion on the current state of the college football transfer portal.
Caitlin Clark Likens College Football to Minor League
The NIL and transfer portal era has divided opinion. Whether it’s fans, broadcasters, analysts, or athletes, everyone has an opinion on its impact on the sport. Clark has become the latest to share her thoughts, appearing on the New Heights podcast, where she sat down with the Kelces to express the current state of college sports and potential solutions.
Clark, the WNBA Rookie of the Year, didn’t hold back, either. She responded to NFL insider Adam Schefter’s report about a player negotiating a new deal to stay at his university, saying, “It’s like, yeah, where else is he going to go? It’s crazy.”
The introduction of the transfer portal has had a significant impact on the sport. Clark expressed concern that the transfer portal has had a negative effect, lamenting the loss of the amateur spirit that once characterized college athletics.
“It’s kind of sad; you lose a little bit of that amateurism in college sports. That’s what made it so fun,” Clark said.
The amateur nature of college football is what gave the sport such great tradition, opportunity, and success. However, the WNBA All-Star has said that the sport is now operating as a rung below the NFL level.
“It’s like minor league football basically now,” Clark explained. “The transfer portal is crazy, especially in football. Like, I think that’s where it’s gotten the craziest because that’s obviously where all the money’s at.”
Travis compared the transfer portal to NFL free agency, suggesting, “Everybody’s a free agent every year.”
Meanwhile, Jason shared the strongest opinion. “People shouldn’t be leaving before the playoffs,” the former Cincinnati Bearcat and Philadelphia Eagles player commented. I think they should figure that out. Yeah, I think there should be a commitment level from the player to the university that there isn’t right now.”
The overlap of the college football postseason and the transfer portal has been controversial. It has significantly impacted the outlook of bowl games, with some players having to leave their team while competing in the playoffs due to entering the transfer portal.
For example, Penn State Nittany Lions backup QB Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal and has committed to the Missouri Tigers for the 2025 season. However, in order to pursue his transfer, he had to leave the team — a scenario that Clark and the Kelces don’t feel comfortable with.
As the NCAA struggles to find a resolution, Jason suggested a potential fix: “Sign term contracts — maybe a two or three-year contract that you agree to stick with a team or university, as long as there’s no coaching change.”
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Meanwhile, Travis shared his desire to return college football to its previous state before the current transfer portal rules were adopted.
“It should go back to the old rules. If you ask an old timer like me to where if you transfer, you have to sit out a year,” Travis shared.
Clark agreed, saying, “I agree…now we got people on like their fourth school and their seventh year. It’s just getting egregious.”
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