Transfer portal spirals out of control

The transfer portal was meant for players like Connor Vanover, who announced last week he was leaving Arkansas after two years and joining the basketball program at Oral Roberts.

Jaylin Williams clearly won the job at center for Arkansas and planted Vanover on the bench so much that Vanover didn’t even play in the final 19 games last season.

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” said Vanover, who contributed 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 29 games two years ago with the Razorbacks.

Good luck to you, Connor. I’m sure Razorback fans wish nothing but the best for you as you continue your education.

Conversely, the transfer portal was not mean for situations like the one that occurred in Miami, where guard Isaiah Wong threatened to leave the program unless he received an NIL (name, image, and likeness) deal that satisfied him.

“If Isaiah and his family don’t feel that the NIL number meets their expectations, they will be entering the transfer portal tomorrow while maintaining his eligibility in the NBA draft and going through the draft process,” Wong’s agent, Adam Papas, told ESPN.

That’s a bold statement, even by today’s standards with free agency now an intricate part of the landscape for college athletics. Just unbelievably brash, especially for public consumption. I couldn’t care less about Miami’s basketball program but I hope the Hurricane tell Mr. Wong to just hit the road.

The transfer portal also was not mean for guys like Jordan Addison, the 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation’s best receiver. Jordan is already a star at Pittsburgh but he decided to place his name in the transfer portal and play at a different school while awaiting the 2023 NFL draft.

So, the coaching staff at Pitt, which at least deserves some credit for helping to develop young Mr. Addison, will likely lose him and his 1,000-plus receiving yards to another team. In another development related to the NIL, Wichita State fired athletic director Darron Boatright after pressure from its diehard fans because Boatright supposedly wasn’t forceful enough in helping attract new players to replace the eight who had left through the transfer portal.

“Where we erred was focusing on educating our athletes about NIL and not just collecting cash and paying kids to come to Wichita State,” Boatright was quoted as saying in a story by the Associated Press. “We were told all along this was not pay-for-play, but now it appears the NCAA has no problems with that, so why not?”

There is no bigger cheerleader for college basketball than Dick Vitale, a former coach and longtime ESPN analyst. Yet, Vitale is deeply troubled by the turn college athletics has taken, especially with top players being recruited through backwater channels from other teams.

“I spoke to a coach who told me that CHEATING is widespread in what is going on with the Transfer Portal,” Vitale wrote on his Twitter page. “Promises behind the scenes r going on to PTPERS (prime-time players) that if they get their names in portal they will be offered . It’s out of control & not good for the game.”

What a mess. What an absolute mess.

I won’t be surprised if some coaches confront other coaches about tampering during events like the annual SEC Football Media Days before the start of the season. It sure would liven up a drab and drawn-out process.

I hold the “pay-for-play” crowd who described college athletes on full scholarship and receiving a free education scholarship as being mistreated largely responsible for the mess that’s been created. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a basketball Hall of Famer and social activist, suggested during a speech at the University of Arkansas a few years ago that a money pot should be established from which all the student-athletes on campus could withdraw. I don’t think that’s happened. Not even close.

If the backup catcher on the women’s softball team is withdrawing the same amount for the kitty as the star quarterback, that’s a story I’ve missed. If the star basketball basketball player is sharing his NIL money with the guys who rarely get off the bench, well, that’s a story I’ve missed, too.

From what I’ve seen, college athletics have been reduced to the Haves and Have-nots.

It’s no secret that top athletes are moving about freely and shopping for better deals through the NIL. But isn’t the primary reason for going to college is to get an education, even for hotshot athletes who are one serious injury away from having their careers ended?

I hope that goal still holds true. For now, the value of a free education has been greatly reduced in college athletics, where free agency and cheating have become the norm.

It is a process without guard rails that can not stand.