College basketball’s transformation to a pro sport well under way

Miami guard Jordan Miller celebrates after scoring against Texas in the second half in the Midwest Regional Finals. Miller scored 27 points in the Hurricanes’ 88-81 win. (Jeff Roberson – The Associated Press)

The One and Done era has given way to the transfer portal and the NIL age.

Do not you believe? Just look at the men’s NCAA tournament.

According to the mock draft on nbadraft.net, neither team in the Final Four has a freshman who is expected to go into the first round of the NBA draft. Connecticut’s Jordan Hawkins and Creighton’s Trey Alexander are projected as late first-round picks, but they’re sophomores, not freshmen.

However, what these teams do have are transfers, and lots of them.

Of the 63 players in the four squads, 16 are transfers. That’s 25 percent. And we’re not talking about bench warmers here, we’re talking about top performers.

Of the 20 players starting for the regional final winners, eight were transfers. That’s 40 percent.

Darrion Trammell, the guy who scored the deciding foul in San Diego State’s 57-56 win over Creighton in the South Regional Finals, is a transfer from Seattle. He is one of two starters and five transfers in the squad. Transfer colleague Matt Bradley, a 6-4 transfer from California, and Trammell are the Aztecs’ top two scorers. Trammell had 12 points in Sunday’s win over the Bluejays.

Miami may be led by Bonner & Prendergast graduate and 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year Isaiah Wong, but 6-7 forward Jordan Miller (George Mason), 6-0 guards sophomore Nijel Pack ( Kansas State) and Norchad Omier (Arkansas State). ) all start and average between 13.3 and 15.4 points per game for the Hurricanes.

Miller was big in Miami’s 88-81 win over second-place Texas in Sunday’s Midwest Regional finals. Miller scored a game-high 27 points and was 7-to-7 from the field and 13-to-13 from the free-throw line. Pack added 15 points and Omier had 11 points and nine rebounds. Wong finished with 15 points, helping the Hurricanes reach the Final Four for the first time in program history.

Florida Atlantic wouldn’t be in the Final Four for the first time in program history without the contributions of its four signings, most notably center Vlad Goldin and guard Bryan Greenlee.

The 7-1 Goldin, coming from Texas Tech ahead of the 2021-22 season, has given the Owls some inside presence. He had 14 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots in the Owls’ 79-76 win over Kansas State in the regional finals. He is the only player to start all 38 games for the Owls and leads the team in rebounds (6.6), blocked shots (4.7) and is third in scoring (10.3).

Guard Bryan Greenlee, a Minnesota transfer, has started 33 of 36 games for the Owls. He is third on the team in assists (2.7) and minutes (24.3) and sixth in scoring (7.4). The 6-0 junior had 15 points in FAU’s win over Kansas State and is considered the team’s best full-back.

UConn has also benefited from the transfer portal. Tristen Newtown, a 6-5 guard from East Carolina, started 36 of 37 games and leads the Huskies in assists (4.6) and is third in scoring (9.9). He had eight points, seven rebounds and one assist in UConn’s 82-54 win over Gonzaga in the West Regional Finals. Guardian Joey Calcaterra, a University of San Diego graduate student, made a valuable contribution from the bench. He scored eight points off the bench against the Zags.

“I don’t think that’s going to change,” said UConn coach Danny Hurley on Friday. “I think that’s probably just the new normal and you can’t rest on your laurels as a university or as a basketball program because you have a rich history or tradition. This game has changed.”

The change began when the NCAA introduced the transfer portal in October 2018, where players submit their name to let the rest of the college world know they’re available. The portal is not public. Only trainers and administrators have access to it.

The madness really increased in April 2021 when the NCAA repealed the rule requiring a transfer to sit out a year before playing for their new schools. First-time transfers are eligible to play immediately. On a second transfer, an athlete must still rest one year unless he or she receives a hardship waiver from the NCAA. In 2022, according to the NCAA, 1,649 male Division 1 players entered the transfer portal, up from 1,687 the year before. Of those 1,659 players, 1,123 transferred to another school and received financial aid.

And it’s not just the men’s game. In 2022, 1,276 Division I players entered the portal, with 939 receiving support from the school they transferred to. Players have 60 days from the end of the regular season/conference tournaments to enter the transfer portal. It closes on May 11th.

Then the NIL (that’s Name, Image, Likeness) where athletes can get paid for promotions and referrals. There is currently no national regulation for the NIL. The NCAA introduced an interim policy in June 2021 that essentially puts the responsibility on the states where the athlete schools are located. To win, an athlete may participate in these activities if they are “consistent with the laws of the state in which the school is located.”

Only 32 states have enacted NIL rules. Most are modeled after California’s Fair Pay to Play Act, which was the first state to enact NIL legislation.

When the policy was announced, former NCAA President Mark Emmert said the NCAA would “continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will bring clarity at the national level.” But the NIL has made the rule of the transfer portal cloudier. Players don’t just leave for more playing time or because they don’t get along with the coach or the coach has left, they also leave for the most lucrative NIL deal. The schools that can put together the best NIL collective will get the best transfers.

To get used to something. As Hurley said, it’s the new normal and why you have a Final Four with no blue blood but a four seed (UConn), two No. 5s (Miami and San Diego States) and a No. 9 (Florida Atlantic). Those who learn to find their way in this new landscape will be successful.

“The transfer portal probably changed the game more than anything else,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said Saturday. “And of course NIL. We’ll continue to see what happens with that as we progress, what that does to the game and parity.”

Contact Terry Toohey at [email protected]; You can follow him on Twitter @TerryToohey.