I've seen plenty of buzz over how great the portal is going to be for WSU, but how much can we really expect to benefit from this change?
Basketball has had a transfer culture for a while now and this change has undoubtedly been a net negative for the Cougs. Losing players like Malachi Flynn plus numerous other players who could have given quality depth has hurt more than the relatively minor contributions from the transfers we've received over the years. I expect football to follow a similar path.
The narrative of gaining power 5 transfers while losing kids to lower levels seems to be taking root, including from Paul Sorenson who calls the portal the new JC. The big difference between the portal and JC is that JC's were never a superior option to playing at WSU. Kids were stuck their because of a lack of grades out of HS, getting booted for bad behavior, or they were late bloomers. The portal primarily consists of kids unable to lock down a starting job at a D1 school. All five of our portal kids (Guarantano, Wilson, Jackson, Watson, and Victor) fit this mold. Victor is of course a nice add as a walk on. The rest, however, are generating a ton of excitement based on their talent out of HS. It's safe to say none have lived up to their hype as recruits. My guess would be their prior fanbases aren't complaining about their departures either. I'd ballpark the success rate for portal kids at around 50% here. Some are going to thrive with a change of scenery or the opportunity to play but it's not going to work well for others.
But in exchange for these additions, we have to worry about starters hitting the portal in pursuit of a bigger stage. In an era where players can get paid for their likeness, I don't see how we come out well in this. The bigger issue is the exodus of depth. How many kids who would have been on the depth chart have we lost since Rolovich arrived? Cruz, Martin, Calvin, Woods, Bacon, Fisher, Mayginnes, Rodgers, McDougle, Kwete, Thomas, Ross, Nunn, Hector, and Mazza. That's a lot of experience to head out the door. While many of these guys might not have been stars, we would all be more comfortable with them on the roster should we have a starter go down. I'd hope to avoid situations where we avoid throwing kids onto the field without experience because they are a warm body.
I hope I'm wrong, but I still see the path to success here as developing decent depth by keeping enough kids in the program for 4-5 years rather than using the portal/JC for half your class to fill holes.
Basketball has had a transfer culture for a while now and this change has undoubtedly been a net negative for the Cougs. Losing players like Malachi Flynn plus numerous other players who could have given quality depth has hurt more than the relatively minor contributions from the transfers we've received over the years. I expect football to follow a similar path.
The narrative of gaining power 5 transfers while losing kids to lower levels seems to be taking root, including from Paul Sorenson who calls the portal the new JC. The big difference between the portal and JC is that JC's were never a superior option to playing at WSU. Kids were stuck their because of a lack of grades out of HS, getting booted for bad behavior, or they were late bloomers. The portal primarily consists of kids unable to lock down a starting job at a D1 school. All five of our portal kids (Guarantano, Wilson, Jackson, Watson, and Victor) fit this mold. Victor is of course a nice add as a walk on. The rest, however, are generating a ton of excitement based on their talent out of HS. It's safe to say none have lived up to their hype as recruits. My guess would be their prior fanbases aren't complaining about their departures either. I'd ballpark the success rate for portal kids at around 50% here. Some are going to thrive with a change of scenery or the opportunity to play but it's not going to work well for others.
But in exchange for these additions, we have to worry about starters hitting the portal in pursuit of a bigger stage. In an era where players can get paid for their likeness, I don't see how we come out well in this. The bigger issue is the exodus of depth. How many kids who would have been on the depth chart have we lost since Rolovich arrived? Cruz, Martin, Calvin, Woods, Bacon, Fisher, Mayginnes, Rodgers, McDougle, Kwete, Thomas, Ross, Nunn, Hector, and Mazza. That's a lot of experience to head out the door. While many of these guys might not have been stars, we would all be more comfortable with them on the roster should we have a starter go down. I'd hope to avoid situations where we avoid throwing kids onto the field without experience because they are a warm body.
I hope I'm wrong, but I still see the path to success here as developing decent depth by keeping enough kids in the program for 4-5 years rather than using the portal/JC for half your class to fill holes.