Transfer Portal 2024

[DocBarrister]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

i would take the other side of this. Mostly because forever is a longtime and I would never have to pay, but have a chance to getting paid. Recently a coach was talking about this and I will not name the schools, but he was shaking his head saying some coaches wake up and go straight to the portal. They look for who entered as they have their first coffee of the day. I believe that strategy will end up being a failure. Its lazy and eventually you lose your culture. I also think you can not ignore it. Using it to fill a couple holes just makes sense. That said developing your core players will always be the most important job for a coach. Its probably reasonable to think someone will hit the lottery on 2-3 back to back classes and win a NC without portal help in the next 50 years. Those are not great odds, so I would certainly want to have the flexibility to add transfers.

Just part of the job now. Transfer portal will be important for as long as it exists, which will be for as long as college lacrosse exists.

DocBarrister

[wgdsr]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

[1766]

You could see a scenario where schools that recruit at the highest level will have challenges holding on to players as easily as they did before. Ease of movement has never been less stringent and there are other great schools where some of these players can slide in an start right away rather than sit or compete with 3 other great players for a spot. It will be interesting to watch as it all unfolds.

[hofpride]

thats too bad because reasons for transfer should be about academics

[wgdsr]

is it even possible that regular commenters on this site don't understand that the only thing "the portal" has done for ease of transferring in re: to lacrosse is allow players to send fewer emails (or calls back in the day)?

do they think that young men that are willing to up and leave will only do it now that they don't have to copy and paste 6 emails?

[HopFan16]

is it even possible that regular commenters on this site don't understand that the only thing "the portal" has done for ease of transferring in re: to lacrosse is allow players to send fewer emails (or calls back in the day)?

do they think that young men that are willing to up and leave will only do it now that they don't have to copy and paste 6 emails?

It's a bit more than that, no? It allows student-athletes to see what's out there very easily without committing to anything. You don't have to be "willing to up and leave" to enter the portal. Say someone from a mid-major enters on a whim without any expectations. Then gets a call from a top 10 school and decides to make the move. That's a transfer that probably would not have happened prior to the existence of the portal. Cormier and Dickson ended up staying at UVA (lucky you) but how many kids in similar situations made the other choice? How many of those kids would have transferred pre-portal? I do think it effectively fosters and to some extent encourages more player movement than before. How much more — for lacrosse specifically? Hard to tell since the numbers have been boosted so much by the Covid craziness. Doc of course is absolutely wrong about not hitting the peak of transfers for lacrosse. He's going to be sorely disappointed by the overall talent pool after this year.

[wgdsr]

is it even possible that regular commenters on this site don't understand that the only thing "the portal" has done for ease of transferring in re: to lacrosse is allow players to send fewer emails (or calls back in the day)?

do they think that young men that are willing to up and leave will only do it now that they don't have to copy and paste 6 emails?

It's a bit more than that, no? It allows student-athletes to see what's out there very easily without committing to anything. You don't have to be "willing to up and leave" to enter the portal. Say someone from a mid-major enters on a whim without any expectations. Then gets a call from a top 10 school and decides to make the move. That's a transfer that probably would not have happened prior to the existence of the portal. Cormier and Dickson ended up staying at UVA (lucky you) but how many kids in similar situations made the other choice? How many of those kids would have transferred pre-portal? I do think it effectively fosters and to some extent encourages more player movement than before. How much more — for lacrosse specifically? Hard to tell since the numbers have been boosted so much by the Covid craziness. Doc of course is absolutely wrong about not hitting the peak of transfers for lacrosse. He's going to be sorely disappointed by the overall talent pool after this year.

prior, you had to ask for your release (and receive it). as it was always granted, there is no difference.

you could have the exact same conversation with your coach (i want to see what my other opportunities are), and be brought back if you were valuable and the coach was amenable. the portal changed none of that. the fact is, we don't know whether the instances of mid-major guy or p5 guy going to his coach have upticked or not because of... a broadcast to all coaches. or whether coaches have been more amenable to bring back because of a paperwork process.

in any event, even if a p5 guy never would've previously contacted marquette and got a half scholly but only the top teams on his wish list (and gone somewhere anyway)... now, that makes dispersion greater and less concentrated to top teams. meaning less "talent" at the top as comp.

you can be in on guys not willing to send emails, but there have been plenty of transfers over decades. both in and out.

[DocBarrister]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

thats too bad because reasons for transfer should be about academics

I absolutely agree. Players should be transferring for academic reasons and not for inappropriate reasons such as more playing …

My, my … my apologies … as I was saying, student athletes must always prioritize academics above all …



I’m sorry, I tried to say it all with a straight face, but I just …

DocBarrister

[wgdsr]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

uh, no. you have absolutely no perspective here. zero. i happen to have plenty of first hand knowledge and experience in the transfer process. and secondhand. so your postulating here is really silly.

this also seems like a good time to inform you that for football, you weren't able to transfer without sitting out a year until april 2021. so it grew 5.5%. in a period of covid transfer babies. but sure, what a trend!!! and must be a perfect parallel anyway!

you've only made the umpteenth ridiculous ironclad prediction for the day, so it's useless showing you the error of your ways as more will most certainly come tomorrow. what's frustrating in what should be mostly civil and productive debates is you make so much ish up that needs to be corrected and yet you speak with the authority of a combo nostradamus and the king of the nc$$. and it's on to the next.

i met nostradamus. i know nostradamus. and you, sir, are no nostradamus.

[DocBarrister]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

uh, no. you have absolutely no perspective here. zero. i happen to have plenty of first hand knowledge and experience in the transfer process. and secondhand. so your postulating here is really silly.

this also seems like a good time to inform you that for football, you weren't able to transfer without sitting out a year until april 2021. so it grew 5.5%. in a period of covid transfer babies. but sure, what a trend!!! and must be a perfect parallel anyway!

you've only made the umpteenth ridiculous ironclad prediction for the day, so it's useless showing you the error of your ways as more will most certainly come tomorrow. what's frustrating in what should be mostly civil and productive debates is you make so much ish up that needs to be corrected and yet you speak with the authority of a combo nostradamus and the king of the nc$$. and it's on to the next.

i met nostradamus. i know nostradamus. and you, sir, are no nostradamus.

Do you think any one of the thousands of student athletes currently in the transfer portal agrees with your position that a telephone even remotely resembles the portal in practicality or utility?

The transfer portal and rule changes have completely changed the transfer process … and for the better.

DocBarrister

[JoeMauer89]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

uh, no. you have absolutely no perspective here. zero. i happen to have plenty of first hand knowledge and experience in the transfer process. and secondhand. so your postulating here is really silly.

this also seems like a good time to inform you that for football, you weren't able to transfer without sitting out a year until april 2021. so it grew 5.5%. in a period of covid transfer babies. but sure, what a trend!!! and must be a perfect parallel anyway!

you've only made the umpteenth ridiculous ironclad prediction for the day, so it's useless showing you the error of your ways as more will most certainly come tomorrow. what's frustrating in what should be mostly civil and productive debates is you make so much ish up that needs to be corrected and yet you speak with the authority of a combo nostradamus and the king of the nc$$. and it's on to the next.

i met nostradamus. i know nostradamus. and you, sir, are no nostradamus.

Do you think any one of the thousands of student athletes currently in the transfer portal agrees with your position that a telephone even remotely resembles the portal in practicality or utility?

The transfer portal and rule changes have completely changed the transfer process … and for the better.

DocBarrister

You are grasping at straws, per usual. Some things never change!

Joe

[wgdsr]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

uh, no. you have absolutely no perspective here. zero. i happen to have plenty of first hand knowledge and experience in the transfer process. and secondhand. so your postulating here is really silly.

this also seems like a good time to inform you that for football, you weren't able to transfer without sitting out a year until april 2021. so it grew 5.5%. in a period of covid transfer babies. but sure, what a trend!!! and must be a perfect parallel anyway!

you've only made the umpteenth ridiculous ironclad prediction for the day, so it's useless showing you the error of your ways as more will most certainly come tomorrow. what's frustrating in what should be mostly civil and productive debates is you make so much ish up that needs to be corrected and yet you speak with the authority of a combo nostradamus and the king of the nc$$. and it's on to the next.

i met nostradamus. i know nostradamus. and you, sir, are no nostradamus.

Do you think any one of the thousands of student athletes currently in the transfer portal agrees with your position that a telephone even remotely resembles the portal in practicality or utility?

The transfer portal and rule changes have completely changed the transfer process … and for the better.

DocBarrister

you literally said there's a good chance lacrosse history is changed for a decade and larry quinn transfers if a computer told the coach he wanted to transfer to his school rather than quinn himself. why don't you ask him if that's how it woulda played out next time you see him!!!

[HopFan16]

is it even possible that regular commenters on this site don't understand that the only thing "the portal" has done for ease of transferring in re: to lacrosse is allow players to send fewer emails (or calls back in the day)?

do they think that young men that are willing to up and leave will only do it now that they don't have to copy and paste 6 emails?

It's a bit more than that, no? It allows student-athletes to see what's out there very easily without committing to anything. You don't have to be "willing to up and leave" to enter the portal. Say someone from a mid-major enters on a whim without any expectations. Then gets a call from a top 10 school and decides to make the move. That's a transfer that probably would not have happened prior to the existence of the portal. Cormier and Dickson ended up staying at UVA (lucky you) but how many kids in similar situations made the other choice? How many of those kids would have transferred pre-portal? I do think it effectively fosters and to some extent encourages more player movement than before. How much more — for lacrosse specifically? Hard to tell since the numbers have been boosted so much by the Covid craziness. Doc of course is absolutely wrong about not hitting the peak of transfers for lacrosse. He's going to be sorely disappointed by the overall talent pool after this year.

prior, you had to ask for your release (and receive it). as it was always granted, there is no difference.

you could have the exact same conversation with your coach (i want to see what my other opportunities are), and be brought back if you were valuable and the coach was amenable. the portal changed none of that.

You *could* have that conversation with your coach, doesn't mean you did. If you look at it literally yes it ultimately just boils down to less paperwork now but that's not really the original question IMO and certainly not an interesting one — it's if this new system leads to more transfers than before because of how seamless/student-friendly it is...and I think the answer is yes.

[wgdsr]

is it even possible that regular commenters on this site don't understand that the only thing "the portal" has done for ease of transferring in re: to lacrosse is allow players to send fewer emails (or calls back in the day)?

do they think that young men that are willing to up and leave will only do it now that they don't have to copy and paste 6 emails?

It's a bit more than that, no? It allows student-athletes to see what's out there very easily without committing to anything. You don't have to be "willing to up and leave" to enter the portal. Say someone from a mid-major enters on a whim without any expectations. Then gets a call from a top 10 school and decides to make the move. That's a transfer that probably would not have happened prior to the existence of the portal. Cormier and Dickson ended up staying at UVA (lucky you) but how many kids in similar situations made the other choice? How many of those kids would have transferred pre-portal? I do think it effectively fosters and to some extent encourages more player movement than before. How much more — for lacrosse specifically? Hard to tell since the numbers have been boosted so much by the Covid craziness. Doc of course is absolutely wrong about not hitting the peak of transfers for lacrosse. He's going to be sorely disappointed by the overall talent pool after this year.

prior, you had to ask for your release (and receive it). as it was always granted, there is no difference.

you could have the exact same conversation with your coach (i want to see what my other opportunities are), and be brought back if you were valuable and the coach was amenable. the portal changed none of that.

You *could* have that conversation with your coach, doesn't mean you did. If you look at it literally yes it ultimately just boils down to less paperwork now but that's not really the original question IMO and certainly not an interesting one — it's if this new system leads to more transfers than before because of how seamless/student-friendly it is...and I think the answer is yes.

i don't think so? so at a standoff.
and no, it's not that interesting. i agree.
but it was that this system leads to more transfers and that means you can't win without a bunch of them and also that you can't be really good and deep because everyone will transfer.

anyway... i was thinking about one of those features that makes the portal useful or user-friendly in all this championship winning. cormier, dickson portalize and come back. 3-4+ years of portals. is there a semi-long list of those guys who have done that and come back to be a biggish piece on a champ contender? top 20 team? asking bc i don't know.

[old salt]

Hopkins didn't need the portal to lure Bob DeSimone & Brendan Schneck from Navy after their soph years.

Rumor in Bancroft Hall in '69 was that Bob Scott was interested in Greg Murphy.

[DocBarrister]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister

the transfer portal did exist in the 1980s. it was called a telephone.

Uh, NO.

The transfer portal allows a player to essentially notify every program in college lacrosse simultaneously of his or her interest in transferring to a new school and program. Head coaches can learn easily who is interested in transferring. Coaches and players may have specific targets in mind, but the portal facilitates communications between them and expands their potential options. That’s important since their top choices may not be viable options.

You would probably need to make more than a hundred calls to achieve anything similar.

The transfer pool in lacrosse is probably only going to expand. In college football, the transfer pool has more than doubled since the portal’s inaugural year, 2018-2019.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/11/ncaa-f ... tal-record#

I don’t think lacrosse will see the same expansion, but anyone who believes the “peak” of the lacrosse transfer portal is past us is deluding themselves. I think we will see steady growth (with some ups and downs) over time in the transfer portal, with a growing number of underclassmen utilizing the portal. We will continue to see “star” players on a routine basis in the portal.

DocBarrister

uh, no. you have absolutely no perspective here. zero. i happen to have plenty of first hand knowledge and experience in the transfer process. and secondhand. so your postulating here is really silly.

this also seems like a good time to inform you that for football, you weren't able to transfer without sitting out a year until april 2021. so it grew 5.5%. in a period of covid transfer babies. but sure, what a trend!!! and must be a perfect parallel anyway!

you've only made the umpteenth ridiculous ironclad prediction for the day, so it's useless showing you the error of your ways as more will most certainly come tomorrow. what's frustrating in what should be mostly civil and productive debates is you make so much ish up that needs to be corrected and yet you speak with the authority of a combo nostradamus and the king of the nc$$. and it's on to the next.

i met nostradamus. i know nostradamus. and you, sir, are no nostradamus.

Do you think any one of the thousands of student athletes currently in the transfer portal agrees with your position that a telephone even remotely resembles the portal in practicality or utility?

The transfer portal and rule changes have completely changed the transfer process … and for the better.

DocBarrister

you literally said there's a good chance lacrosse history is changed for a decade and larry quinn transfers if a computer told the coach he wanted to transfer to his school rather than quinn himself. why don't you ask him if that's how it woulda played out next time you see him!!!

It was a hypothetical.



DocBarrister

[BrownDad]

Time will tell if you're right about the long-term growth of the portal but you're already wildly wrong. This year there are 112 players in the portal (as reported in Lacrosse Bucket) of which 28 are non-seniors (25%). Last year it was 176 players of which 83 were non-seniors (47%). That's a 36% drop in total number of players and a 66% drop in non-seniors in 1 year. Last year 39 players (22%) that were in the portal didn't transfer anywhere and of these 27 were seniors (69%). This year so far 32 players (29%) haven't transferred and 21 of them are seniors (66%). The inference is that far fewer players entered the portal this year and, while many more of them were seniors, there is about the same level of success in transferring.

Not interested in the "star" player debate but as we get further away from an extra Covid year being available I just don't see "star" players trying to find a different place to play for their senior year when they've only got 4 years of eligibility.

[coda]

Time will tell if you're right about the long-term growth of the portal but you're already wildly wrong. This year there are 112 players in the portal (as reported in Lacrosse Bucket) of which 28 are non-seniors (25%). Last year it was 176 players of which 83 were non-seniors (47%). That's a 36% drop in total number of players and a 66% drop in non-seniors in 1 year. Last year 39 players (22%) that were in the portal didn't transfer anywhere and of these 27 were seniors (69%). This year so far 32 players (29%) haven't transferred and 21 of them are seniors (66%). The inference is that far fewer players entered the portal this year and, while many more of them were seniors, there is about the same level of success in transferring.

Not interested in the "star" player debate but as we get further away from an extra Covid year being available I just don't see "star" players trying to find a different place to play for their senior year when they've only got 4 years of eligibility.

Covid crew getting through the system is slowing it down. The answer is generally in between. The portal will be a factor going on. The teams that learn how to navigate it correctly will flourish. Throwing around NIL money and stocking up on portal players is likely to be very inconsistent and potentially harmful to the long term stability. You have to find the balance. Its going to be interesting.

[Wheels]

I think there will be a slow down on D1 players in the portal for a couple of reasons. One, yes, the COVID bonus years will thankfully soon expire. Two, it's really, really hard to transfer after your junior year because most universities require a specific number of credit hours be taken at their institution in order to graduate. If you have 5 academic years to complete 4 athletic years of eligibility, then perhaps a players who didn't hit the field at all as a freshman can essentially retro-redshirt to gain back a year of eligibility. But we're talking small numbers because most students will have really strong social connections at their university by the time they're finished with their sophomore year. It's hard to give up those social connections.

But then there's a related point. If you haven't played much if at all at any program by the end of your sophomore year, how many options will you have to even play elsewhere? You could rely on your high school reputation or a relationship you established during the high school recruiting process, I suppose. If you haven't seen much time by the end of your junior year, what real options do you have elsewhere? There has to be someone on the other end of the transfer wanting you. For most of us, when we see Hop16 update the portal list, we're like "who is that?" Probably because there's a good amount of players in the portal that haven't gotten on the field for years and are looking to transfer down a level.

Where I think the portal will maybe grow is the D3-to-D1 route. You see a lot of freshman and sophomores at the D3 level putting up huge numbers (and thus having a lot of tape for others to view). Maybe those players were under-recruited out of high school. But if they explode early in their careers, transferring up a division is now an option that maybe wasn't too available pre-Portal.

What we see in football is that the portal hurts smaller/less renowned programs more than it hurts Power 5 teams. The talent always flows up. Alabama plucks a Maryland player (CJ Dippre this year). Maryland plucks a FIU player. FIU plucks a Byrant player. Bryant plucks an Assumption player. Assumption plucks a Bridgewater player.

I think the same will happen in lacrosse. The COVID years have just distorted the market because of all the Ivy and PL players who had an extra year. But if you're a Manhattan or Marist coach, you're probably constantly worried about losing your best underclassman to a higher level team. If you're a B1G or ACC team, you're probably not as worried about losing your best players. Rich get richer. The Portal is no different.