Fans all around the nation are bamboozled as the NCAA transfer portal is wide open, overlapping with the tournament. As the season goes on, College basketball followers are asking valid questions, looking for some answers that will make sense.
NCAA Transfer Portal Dates Are Fueling Fire on Social Media
“Why is the portal even open?” one frustrated Reddit fan posted. The timing baffles many. Teams still battling on the court must now juggle recruiting new talent and retaining their own players. Over 1,000 Division I men’s basketball players have already entered the portal since it opened.
That’s a flood of movement while the season’s climax is still unfolding. Coaches have it the hardest as they have to multitask, plan games, and recruit new players. Some are even preparing to jump ship to new jobs but must stay focused on current games.
“It is asinine for coaches or players to move schools until after all games have ended,” another fan chimed in.
The portal’s schedule wasn’t always this way. It once opened right after Selection Sunday with a 45-day window. Now, it’s shrunk to 30 days. Why? A hard May 1 deadline looms so players can wrap up finals and settle into new schools by summer.
Pushing the portal later risks squeezing that window even tighter. One Redditor noted college basketball’s creeping earlier start dates. If the season had begun mid-October, the tournament could have wrapped up in March, potentially fixing the overlap.
Coaches aren’t off the hook, either. They picked this timing last year.
Now, they’re grumbling about it. Fans see the irony. Meanwhile, the transfer frenzy is mirroring the NBA free agency. Scoring guards? A dime a dozen. Every team values players differently based on its system. Still, the sheer volume, over 1,000 transfers, makes roster management a nightmare during the tournament.
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Tampering adds fuel to the fire. Handshake deals likely happen long before the portal opens. Delaying it might not stop players from announcing new schools lightning-fast once it does. Without cracking down on tampering, no schedule tweak will fully clean up this mess.
For now, fans watch the season with one eye on the games and another on the portal ticker. The NCAA’s balancing act isn’t winning any applause.
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