In a stunning moment during a recent conversation with 60 Minutes, UConn basketball head coach Dan Hurley admitted he expects half his roster to consider offers in the transfer portal this spring.
Name, image, and likeness rules have completely changed roster building in college sports. For decades, programs were built around coaching staffs that were gifted at identifying talent and then traversing the country to recruit them to their schools. However, with athletes making money from collectives it has completely changed things.
Now, it is about what a program can offer financially, instead of higher learning and the best route to the NBA and NFL. That is also true in the transfer portal. Which has become the college ranks version of free agency in pro sports. As unhappy players put up their services to the highest bidder.
It was something that UConn head coach Dan Hurley went into great depth about this weekend. As he explained how the legendary program he runs is not immune to the perils of the NIL era in college basketball.
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Dan Hurley suggests UConn players already know what they’ll make in NIL money elsewhere
“Fifty percent of my roster, or more, is at least considering going into the portal,” Hurley told 60 Minutes. “If not already know what school they are going to. And in a couple of those cases, they’ve already talked to the coaching staff at the future school. And have an idea of what their NIL is going to be there.
“… The level of volatility in college sports; this has now become a year-to-year proposition. And the game has changed completely.”
Several powerhouse schools this season, like St. John’s, have benefited in a major way from bolstering their rosters with NIL money. Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban spoke publicly often about the downsides of NIL rules. And now, Hurley has become college basketball’s version of Saban as he sees the value of UConn’s brand erode from the changes to the sport.
One has to wonder if he is regretting passing on that offer to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers this past summer.
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