GT Transfer Portal Activity 2.0 – Portal Season: The Awakening

[MtnWasp]

Reichsteiner committed to Kansas St.

It is one of those unexpected perks of the portal era that we can be disappointed to lose a recruit multiple times!

 

[Buzzforlife]

 

[Techster]

Oh man, now Liberty is out spending GT. Cross can't even sign his own players at Troy...(<-- sarcasm)

On a serious note. For those that feared Cross was just gonna import Troy players to GT, I guess there's nothing to worry about.

 

[WaCoJacket]

Oh man, now Liberty is out spending GT. Cross can't even sign his own players at Troy...(<-- sarcasm)

On a serious note. For those that feared Cross was just gonna import Troy players to GT, I guess there's nothing to worry about.

Is Liberty a step above Troy? I didn’t think so

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

Is Liberty a step above Troy? I didn’t think so

No, a lateral move to a team who made it to the 2nd game of the NIT. Their dad is not listed on the coaching staff at Troy so far, just the new head coach.

 

[Techster]

Is Liberty a step above Troy? I didn’t think so

Liberty does have money to spend on sports. In that sense they are a step above Troy.

I never thought Cross would import the core group of players at Troy as some on here did. I believe Cross is a very good coach...good coaches don't shoot themselves in the foot, which is what he would have done if he did that. ACC is many levels above the Sun Belt.

The players Cross chooses to bring in will tell us a lot about how this experiment will go.

 

[MWBATL]

Liberty does have money to spend on sports. In that sense they are a step above Troy.

I never thought Cross would import the core group of players at Troy as some on here did. I believe Cross is a very good coach...good coaches don't shoot themselves in the foot, which is what he would have done if he did that. ACC is many levels above the Sun Belt.

The players Cross chooses to bring in will tell us a lot about how this experiment will go.

You mean the players he is ABLE to bring in....he may choose guys, but will they choo$e us?

 

[slugboy]

Is Liberty a step above Troy? I didn’t think so

Like Techster said, Liberty’s funding is head and shoulders above any other school in the Sun Belt. Troy’s funding is probably terrible. Liberty failing to win with a major cash advantage says a lot about the coaches and teams that beat them, and something about the Liberty programs.

 

[Techster]

You mean the players he is ABLE to bring in....he may choose guys, but will they choo$e us?

That's also part of it. We're not gonna spend like Duke/UNC/Miami so Cross's ability to find the right talent will be tested.

 

[RamblinRed]

It is one of those unexpected perks of the portal era that we can be disappointed to lose a recruit multiple times!

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, I don't follow recruiting closely enough anymore to care about whether a player chooses to come to GT.

When the expectation was that the majority of the players you recruited were likely to be at your school for 3+ years, then it was worth following closely.
Now I don't follow football or basketball recruiting at all. I just wait to see who signs and then I research them at that point. Even then, I don't get attached to the player anymore knowing that many will only last 1 year and a significant percentage of those are likely to make no impact for the time they are at a school.

The current status of college athletics makes it difficult to root for the players wearing the uniform. I root for GT to win its games, but for 90% of the players wearing the uniform I don't really follow them or care. They aren't here long enough to care.

The sooner that athletes (at least in football and basketball) are classified as employees and a union is established for collective bargining so that a structure that can withstand legal challenges is in place the better. I just hope it happens before I lose all interest in college athletics. This is the first year since I started following GT in 1981 that I didn't go to a single football or basketball game or didn't watch a single football or basketball game live. For the entire year I think I only watched 5-6 basketball games. I watched 8 or 9 football games. It's no longer appointment viewing for me. If I have time i'll watch it, if not then I don't worry about it, I have other things to do with my life.

 

[Buzzforlife]

 

[Peacone36]

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, I don't follow recruiting closely enough anymore to care about whether a player chooses to come to GT.

When the expectation was that the majority of the players you recruited were likely to be at your school for 3+ years, then it was worth following closely.
Now I don't follow football or basketball recruiting at all. I just wait to see who signs and then I research them at that point. Even then, I don't get attached to the player anymore knowing that many will only last 1 year and a significant percentage of those are likely to make no impact for the time they are at a school.

The current status of college athletics makes it difficult to root for the players wearing the uniform. I root for GT to win its games, but for 90% of the players wearing the uniform I don't really follow them or care. They aren't here long enough to care.

The sooner that athletes (at least in football and basketball) are classified as employees and a union is established for collective bargining so that a structure that can withstand legal challenges is in place the better. I just hope it happens before I lose all interest in college athletics. This is the first year since I started following GT in 1981 that I didn't go to a single football or basketball game or didn't watch a single football or basketball game live. For the entire year I think I only watched 5-6 basketball games. I watched 8 or 9 football games. It's no longer appointment viewing for me. If I have time i'll watch it, if not then I don't worry about it, I have other things to do with my life.

This approach would improve my mental health this time of year as I don’t follow baseball as closely any longer

 

[MtnWasp]

When the expectation was that the majority of the players you recruited were likely to be at your school for 3+ years, then it was worth following closely.

If you had asked me before the portal era about the importance of player continuity was for fan interest, I would have answered that it was foundational, necessary.

For me, outside of a rare magical season, watching players develop in the program over time was a BIG part of being a fan. The players were part of the program identity and not just a guy in a jersey.

I am not surprised by the inflationary market of pay for play. But I have been tremendously surprised by the volume of transfers. I would never have predicted that such a large percentage of players would change schools, some of them every year.

I think that it is utterly absurd and it is far, far worse than anything I can think of in pro sports. Pro sport athletes show a much greater affiliation to their teams and communities than the current college players.

I suspect that the absurd transfer rates are less about the college structure and much more about the outlook of current youth in combination with the presence on agents.

At any rate, the player turnover has lowered the ceiling of my interest, and darkened my outlook on their generation.

 

[Techwood Relict]

This approach would improve my mental health this time of year as I don’t follow baseball as closely any longer

This would be a good year to backslide. We've been kicking @$$ and taking names this year

 

[LargeFO]

This would be a good year to backslide. We've been kicking @$$ and taking names this year

And a lot of the players still stay at the school multiple years.

 

[alagold]

I read recently that about 40% of the portalet oops portal transfers will not find homes better than where they left, or not al all. There will be some OKG's in that group, so be patient and not overspend early on rental payments.

Has anyone seen or used the app MyNILPay.com? It started in 1923 to provide a route for fans to pay NIL to players if they have a .edu email address at an NCAA Div 1,2, or 3 school. Not trusting it, I tried it out. I downloaded the app and registered, then sent a donation to an NCAA player I know with a Georgia Tech .edu email address, after finding his name in the site search menu. Meanwhile, I let hm know I did by text that he would receive an email from the app site. He did and he was asked to register with his banking information. He did and the amount less 10% was put into his banking account, with me identified by first name ans last name initial. The limit is $5,000 per transaction and the minimum is $20. So I know that fan-direct-to-player system works to pay athletes directly. His quid pro quo is to provide me a signed digital photo of himself. I am awaiting that now. So that is a way for fans to have a say in what Tech enrolled players think of Tech and encourage them to want to stay at Tech and know the fans personally appreciate them in name, likeness, and image. This can be done for any player in any sport.

My grandson, an NCAA athlete, also receives $25 school-sponsored NIL for every jersey sold put in his pay pal account. What I cannot figure is how a recruiting school can promise $x's without enrollment or even know how much NIL a player gets from the multiple sources of NIL donations after enrolled.

wow, I had no idea this was available. Amazing.

 

[AUFC]

If you had asked me before the portal era about the importance of player continuity was for fan interest, I would have answered that it was foundational, necessary.

For me, outside of a rare magical season, watching players develop in the program over time was a BIG part of being a fan. The players were part of the program identity and not just a guy in a jersey.

I am not surprised by the inflationary market of pay for play. But I have been tremendously surprised by the volume of transfers. I would never have predicted that such a large percentage of players would change schools, some of them every year.

I think that it is utterly absurd and it is far, far worse than anything I can think of in pro sports. Pro sport athletes show a much greater affiliation to their teams and communities than the current college players.

I suspect that the absurd transfer rates are less about the college structure and much more about the outlook of current youth in combination with the presence on agents.

At any rate, the player turnover has lowered the ceiling of my interest, and darkened my outlook on their generation.

I don't think the players are to blame for much of this to be honest and most Millennial/GenX/Boomer workers would swap companies if another company tapped them on the shoulder with promises of 5x or 10x their current salary. A common phrase comes to mind: "don't hate the player, hate the game." I blame it on the adults who mishandled student athlete pay since the very beginning (and even before NIL was a thing).

 

[alagold]

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, I don't follow recruiting closely enough anymore to care about whether a player chooses to come to GT.

When the expectation was that the majority of the players you recruited were likely to be at your school for 3+ years, then it was worth following closely.
Now I don't follow football or basketball recruiting at all. I just wait to see who signs and then I research them at that point. Even then, I don't get attached to the player anymore knowing that many will only last 1 year and a significant percentage of those are likely to make no impact for the time they are at a school.

The current status of college athletics makes it difficult to root for the players wearing the uniform. I root for GT to win its games, but for 90% of the players wearing the uniform I don't really follow them or care. They aren't here long enough to care.

The sooner that athletes (at least in football and basketball) are classified as employees and a union is established for collective bargining so that a structure that can withstand legal challenges is in place the better. I just hope it happens before I lose all interest in college athletics. This is the first year since I started following GT in 1981 that I didn't go to a single football or basketball game or didn't watch a single football or basketball game live. For the entire year I think I only watched 5-6 basketball games. I watched 8 or 9 football games. It's no longer appointment viewing for me. If I have time i'll watch it, if not then I don't worry about it, I have other things to do with my life.

EXACTLY as I feel.Things have got to change for me to follow closely again.The "rent-a-player" environment is disheartening.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

EXACTLY as I feel.Things have got to change for me to follow closely again.The "rent-a-player" environment is disheartening.

“Rent-a-Player” is as about as succinct a description of where college sports are as I’ve heard.

 

[WaCoJacket]

“Rent-a-Player” is as about as succinct a description of where college sports are as I’ve heard.

Rent a coach to acquire rent a players