2025 Transfer Portal

[LOLmickcronin]

We almost agreed. Until you said they won’t know if they are #8 or # 13.

They WILL know. Cause I’m willing to pay #8 100K and I’m willing to pay #13 20K.

If I have 120k to fill out my last guy in the rotation, the LAST thing I want is 2 guys @60 each.

This was my issue with last years team. Hugley? Why? He didn’t even fit our style of play. We had the guy lose 50 pounds and he was awful. Fletcher, Anderson and the walk ons all got money….that could have been better used elsewhere. Period.

How much did we pay Trey Green? He didn’t make it 10 games before he quit. And make no mistake, he quit. He was exhibit A on the idea that you pay a guy to be a developmental piece. But he could even hack it for a year without bailing out. Craft used us for a year. Had a solid year at Miami and will cash in as a trophy portal guy for a decent mid major….or a rotation piece for a high major….right back where he started.

I would spend the money on the order of what I need. As a result, out last few guys should get the least money and be the least needed. They will know when they see superior guys already signed up and we have little dollars for them.

I kinda look at it as an MLB Baseball franchise. 95% of the money gets spent on the MLB club. 4% probably goes into AAA. The other 1% is spent on bus rides from Nowhere, Iowa to Nowhere, Wisconsin.

Exactly this. The folks arguing the other side seem to forget some of the mediocre players we’ve had to settle for that WHEN they got minutes were grossly overmatched in the big east. A bunch of 60K guys to fill out a roster is nice but won’t win games. A high priced 7 man rotation is risky bc of injuries but gives you a real chance to win and retain those guys.

[MHettel]

I have zero inside info but base it on the guys we get and don’t get. Why wouldn’t dent follow his coach? Bc ucla gave him a lot more than X could. The last few offseason we’d be reported to be interested in lots of guys that ended up going to bigger schools for more $$. And we end up grabbing a couple good ones and a couple underwhelming guys and end up on the bubble.

I realize it’s not ALL about the Nil amount but it’s a big part of it and where all the top guys land is telling.

Yeah. Good points here. We got Maddox late. He probably expected starter money at a big 5 school. Probably expected a starter role too. And in the end XU may have had slightly more money to offer than Illinois and UofL (or whoever was competing with us). We probably said this is what we have and you can be a rotation guy and have the opportunity to play your way into a starting role. He probably didn’t have a more compelling financial offer and as a senior, he not playing for next year. He’s playing for right now. Get paid first, hope for on-court success next.

I really feel that most people engaged I this discussion tend to look at the world through their own eyes. But yet your own perspective is irrelevant.

Take the perspective of a 20 year old kid that just got offered 3X the amount of his parents income to play basketball all for a year. Be in those shoes and you suddenly see why we are where we are

[Xavier]

Didn’t the number one player in the portal go to Iowa? Assuming Iowa must have paid him the most?

Every situation is different. Paying 7 guys a ton has a lot more risk. If you hit, it might be your best shot. But X has had season ending injuries to starters each of last 3 years. Season over. Or, the highest paid player from the portal last year went and sucked it up at KS St. if one, or two, of the guys don’t meet expectations- season over. Start from scratch next year.

[MHettel]

Didn’t the number one player in the portal go to Iowa? Assuming Iowa must have paid him the most?

Every situation is different. Paying 7 guys a ton has a lot more risk. If you hit, it might be your best shot. But X has had season ending injuries to starters each of last 3 years. Season over. Or, the highest paid player from the portal last year went and sucked it up at KS St. if one, or two, of the guys don’t meet expectations- season over. Start from scratch next year.

Check the guy that went to Iowa. I don’t have the details, but wasn’t he a D2 player? That played for the drake coach that was his coach at D2. And the. A year at Drake and he’s a star. And the. His coach goes to Iowa and he follows.

That’s one guy of several thousand. He probably thought his Bball career started and ended at the D2 level. Then he connects with a coach who suddenly has years later has him at a high D1 situation. All house money there.

Is he typical? No. He extraordinary.

[Xville]

Didn’t the number one player in the portal go to Iowa? Assuming Iowa must have paid him the most?

Every situation is different. Paying 7 guys a ton has a lot more risk. If you hit, it might be your best shot. But X has had season ending injuries to starters each of last 3 years. Season over. Or, the highest paid player from the portal last year went and sucked it up at KS St. if one, or two, of the guys don’t meet expectations- season over. Start from scratch next year.

Correct. No coach is only going to pay only 7-8 guys. Too much risk, and with everything that pitino said it is clear he is going to focus on retain and develop. Not sure where some of you have been but yeah we are never going to get the dents of the world in the portal. It’s never going to happen. It never has, and it never will.

We will see what the roster looks like in a few weeks but I’m willing to bet we have somewhere between 10-12 guys on scholarship and they will all be getting paid.

[Xville]

Exactly this. The folks arguing the other side seem to forget some of the mediocre players we’ve had to settle for that WHEN they got minutes were grossly overmatched in the big east. A bunch of 60K guys to fill out a roster is nice but won’t win games. A high priced 7 man rotation is risky bc of injuries but gives you a real chance to win and retain those guys.

Who do you get to practice against those 7 guys? Injury? Think Coleman Hawkins was worth that high price tag? How about ballo at iu?

You think those same 7 guys that were so concerned about the money are the easiest ones to retain? You don’t think they will want more the following year, or be the likeliest to go back to “free agency?”

When you have 5 mil you have to be extremely smart about who you identify and have commit. Some of you all think for every kid it’s only about the money and that’s all. For some I’m sure it is, but it’s certainly not for everyone.

[MHettel]

Correct. No coach is only going to pay only 7-8 guys. Too much risk, and with everything that pitino said it is clear he is going to focus on retain and develop. Not sure where some of you have been but yeah we are never going to get the dents of the world in the portal. It’s never going to happen. It never has, and it never will.

We will see what the roster looks like in a few weeks but I’m willing to bet we have somewhere between 10-12 guys on scholarship and they will all be getting paid.

And a year from now we can discuss how that went. How did we do? And how many guys we got this year are committed to the next year.

I don’t have that answer. One of us do. But I have my guess.

[Xville]

We almost agreed. Until you said they won’t know if they are #8 or # 13.

They WILL know. Cause I’m willing to pay #8 100K and I’m willing to pay #13 20K.

If I have 120k to fill out my last guy in the rotation, the LAST thing I want is 2 guys @60 each.

This was my issue with last years team. Hugley? Why? He didn’t even fit our style of play. We had the guy lose 50 pounds and he was awful. Fletcher, Anderson and the walk ons all got money….that could have been better used elsewhere. Period.

How much did we pay Trey Green? He didn’t make it 10 games before he quit. And make no mistake, he quit. He was exhibit A on the idea that you pay a guy to be a developmental piece. But he could even hack it for a year without bailing out. Craft used us for a year. Had a solid year at Miami and will cash in as a trophy portal guy for a decent mid major….or a rotation piece for a high major….right back where he started.

I would spend the money on the order of what I need. As a result, out last few guys should get the least money and be the least needed. They will know when they see superior guys already signed up and we have little dollars for them.

I kinda look at it as an MLB Baseball franchise. 95% of the money gets spent on the MLB club. 4% probably goes into AAA. The other 1% is spent on bus rides from Nowhere, Iowa to Nowhere, Wisconsin.

So the least needed guys should get paid next to nothing and be better than Hugley. Got it. Would love to know where you find these guys lol.

I don’t think you can take what has happened the last few years under miller and apply it to what pitino is going to do. We all know by now that miller had one foot out the door from the moment he took the job. Pitino stated over and over development, retain, culture and program.

[MHettel]

Who do you get to practice against those 7 guys? Injury? Think Coleman Hawkins was worth that high price tag? How about ballo at iu?

You think those same 7 guys that were so concerned about the money are the easiest ones to retain? You don’t think they will want more the following year, or be the likeliest to go back to “free agency?”

When you have 5 mil you have to be extremely smart about who you identify and have commit. Some of you all think for every kid it’s only about the money and that’s all. For some I’m sure it is, but it’s certainly not for everyone.

Well all the guys we got for the last 2 years seem to be pretty interested in money.

We literally have ZERO returning minutes next year. Not one guy on next years roster will have played a minute for Xavier previously. We will have had around 45 guys over the last 4 years.

This daydreaming about a bygone age when players developed over a 4 year career is just insane . Those days are over.

I’d rather have a solid strategy centered around the current environment than one that reminisces about some former situation.

We’re not getting freshmen that sit on the bench. We had one lined up last year. He bailed and went to WVU. Now he’s headed to UNC. Is he a UNC level talent? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. But he’s gonna be wearing powder blue next year and making more money than most of us.

Economics people. Follow the basic economics principles. Is said this would happen. Mid major teams would become the minor leagues to the teams with deep pockets. It’s literally happening.

And yet there are endless hypothetical ideas that just fall flat in the shadow of reality.


Money, money, money….in every situation, always. That’s how to anticipate the next move. And the one after that, and the one after that, etc

[Xville]

And a year from now we can discuss how that went. How did we do? And how many guys we got this year are committed to the next year.

I don’t have that answer. One of us do. But I have my guess.

It depends on makeup.. how many still have eligibility? My guess, pitino doesn’t want to do this every year. Probably a lot more comfortable getting 3-4 guys every year instead of what miller was doing.