Portal

[stevelee]

Anybody getting cynical yet?

The grapes probably were sour.

[ScootCat]

We must prove we can navigate the portal. If not, we’re toast. Brizzi and Moss were huge misses that cost us dearly.

[Acorn]

I can’t believe he didn’t want to play for you fans.

[wildforthecats]

We must prove we can navigate the portal. If not, we’re toast. Brizzi and Moss were huge misses that cost us dearly.

Glass half full: Connor and Skogman.

[JCDC]

wait until the dust clears before celebrating or sobbing. It's a long time until November.

[DC69Wildcat]

I suspect Davidson is now leading the A10 in number of players in the portal, and it ain't over yet. Very disappointing, and not a good look for TCC, particularly the loss of Brizzi and Moss after only one year.

[WildCock]

Anybody getting cynical yet?

The grapes probably were sour.

I try and try to maintain an appropriate level of cynicism, but I just can't keep pace with the real world.

*******************

Seriously, if a player enrolls as a freshman and stays at Davidson for four years, I can only wish them well if they decide to transfer. They might be after a graduate degree, NIL money, more playing time, a better shot at the Dance, uniform colors they like better, whatever.
I feel the same about players who transfer in and graduate. If they have eligibility left and want to transfer, no problem. My worry is players who transfer in and then out. I can imagine a few circumstances where this is reasonable, but I don't like to think we might be recruiting mercenaries.

[Bill Cobb]

I think part of what we may be seeing is the culmination of the "every kid gets a trophy" world. Entitlement syndrome. I'm not getting the respect or PT I deserve (sometimes they are right, but....) so I will leave and try another team/high school/youth league yada yada. I can understand one transfer. I really cannot understand a kid transferring multiple times.

[i77cat]

Time to double ticket prices. Again. We need the money. That gets trickier with a shrinking fan base.

[ScootCat]

If Davidson basketball doesn’t start attracting a younger fan base they’ll end up like so many churches across the country that have seen their congregations literally die off.

[wildforthecats]

wait until the dust clears before celebrating or sobbing. It's a long time until November.

Cats will be back in the mix.

[catseye]

I feel like there are a LOT of players entering the portal and that having multiple players enter the portal is not necessarily a "sky is falling" moment. But I do wonder, at the end of the day, how many of these players will actually leave.

My main concern is that the player development and chemistry so important to play the way we do will be harder to create with a revolving door of players.

But . . . I hate to lose ANY player.

[Acorn]

Of twelve scholarship players on Davidson’s 2021–2022 team (Bob’s last year), eleven left with eligibility. Loyer was the only player to exhaust his eligibility at Davidson.
1) Brajkovic had a Covid year he didn’t take. That’s understandable and it would have been a pleasant surprise for him to stay.
2) Jones had a redshirt year and his Covid year. But he had been at Davidson four years, played three, graduated with a double major, and was able to pursue a graduate degree at Stanford. Very understandable.
3) Boachie-Yiadom had a Covid year that he spent doing a grad year at Hofstra. It seemed to me there was more that could have been done to try to keep him around. It would have required some advanced planning. But he’s been cheering loudly at multiple games, so he appears to be on good terms with the program.
4) Kristensen left with a year or two of eligibility left. I have not seen/heard any complaining.
5) Lanier left with three years of eligibility to join his father at SMU. Understandable.
6) Thrastarson left with three years of eligibility. The story explaining/justifying his departure was sad. But I have not seen/heard lamentations of the loss of his talents.
7) Ford also left with three years. I’ve likewise not heard any sadness.
8) Watson left after being recruited over. Kochera came in and also took his starting spot. Things have worked out for him. At Loyola he has been one of their top players, is a 40% three point shooter, and helped lead the team to a top-three finish in the league.
9) Lee (sorry, I should have put him earlier) left with two years. His reason was to pursue his longstanding dream of playing basketball professionally—something he needed to do sooner rather than later given S. Korea’s requirement for military service. Very understandable and should have been predictable and thoroughly discussed with him.
10) Mennenga left with a year of eligibility to become a professional basketball player. Very understandable.
11) Huffman has a Covid year he’s looking to use as a grad transfer. Understandable.

Now we add Spadone, Schulte, Moss, and Brizzi. And potentially Skogman (whose transfer to pursue grad school would be very understandable).

That’s a lot of turnover. Unprecedented for Davidson. And probably above average among all teams. The Covid years are going away. The grad transfers don’t bother me. But I do worry a bit about team culture with some of the other guys who left. No one on this long list left because of NIL.

[i77cat]

NIL is a factor now and a big one. Honest programs can offer big dollars once someone is in the portal. The others will continue to offer it before an athlete declares an intent to transfer.

This should be a huge weekend in the portal. We'll get down to just 16 teams left in the Dance. Hundreds of new names will flood the portal.

[Acorn]

Davidson has and has had two collectives, one of them since collectives were first a thing. Dollars from collectives and NIL do not come from the schools and are not directed by coaches (although there is plenty of collusion). Davidson has never successfully competed for recruits against the programs whose donors are currently contributing the most to collectives. Jackson Simmons and Luke Maye both took preferred walkon spots at UNC versus scholarships and likely starting/starring roles at Davidson. We lost Sam Singer to Cal. Ryan Kelly lost interest once Duke et al. came calling. Samir Sehic chose Vanderbilt. G.G. Goloman went to UCLA. Tyson Hunter, Gabe DeVoe, and Catalin Baciu went to Clemson. Riley Battin and Jakob Poeltl went to Utah. LaVell Blanchard went to Michigan. Tom Knight went to Notre Dame. The list goes on and on. Post-Lefty Davidson has almost always lost recruiting battles to bigger programs, regardless of NIL.

I find it hard to believe that the collectives at our actual competition actually have that much more money than Davidson. Yale just won a game. They don’t even have scholarships. Do we think Oakland has more NIL money than Davidson?