Dick Vitale Hates the Transfer Portal
College basketball's transfer portal is in full swing, with hundreds of players opting to explore their options with new teams. Legendary ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has made his feelings on the portal known. I'll tell ya, I don't think he likes it.
Vitale took to Twitter on Thursday to share his thoughts:
No one can ever convince me this CHAOS is good for the college game . The instability in the game is scary as many coaches have told me in private. They can’t they claim constantly moan about it as it would hurt recruiting .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) April 6, 2023
To clarify, Vitale is confused, UCLA's Jaime Jaquez has declared for the NBA draft, he will not be transferring. Everyone else on his list is, in fact, in the portal or headed there.
Vitale is a former coach, so I understand why he'd hate the portal. It does create chaos when coaches are attempting to build rosters. But as long as coaches can leave schools with no penalty, I believe the players should be allowed to do that same. Additionally, plenty of coaches fill high school players' heads with expectations of playing time and specific roles, then don't follow through. Recruiting is largely a game of who is the best at telling kids what they want to hear. If coaches don't back that talk up, players should be allowed to explore other options.
I will say, now that the NCAA allows players to transfer one time without a penalty, I believe the grad-transfer rule should be amended. As it stands, a player can transfer as a grad student without penalty even if he or she has previously transferred. The one fix that would make sense would be if a player transferred as an undergrad, he or she should have to sit out on the next transfer, even if it comes as a grad student.
All that said, the transfer rule isn't changing any time soon. Player empowerment is here to stay.