Transfers/Seniors with Remaining Eligibility

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Portal exploration is going to be standard procedure for good players from here on out.  There's no reason not to see what options are available, especially if guys want to play professionally.

I sure hope a lot of them recognize the value of starring at D3 has over being a role player at another level - but we've certainly got some guys who can star at another level, too.

Cedric Coward and Duncan Robinson are always going to be out there illuminating a path for the right guy.

[nescac1]

Plenty of guys who have entered the portal have ended up returning for another year (or more) and I agree that some of these entrants may just figure, what the heck, without a real expectation of leaving their current tams.  At the same time, the guys who HAVE moved up to D1 have generally performed VERY well, many end up as key starters or even stars on their teams or seem at worst to serve as useful heavy rotational players right way. 

I suspect that D1 coaches are not blind to this and will continue to go after the cream of the crop in D3 more and more - after all, there is just a lot less risk grabbing a guy who is a proven elite player at a very strong level of competition vs. trying to find hidden gems transferring "down" from a tiny role on a higher-profile D1 program or of course an untested high school player.  And as the top D1 programs continue to pick the lower-tier programs dry of their star players in the portal, there will be more and more openings available for an experienced college player who is as close to a lock as you can find to help out right away. 

I feel quite confident that at least 10 current D3 guys and likely significantly north of that end up with D1 scholarships next year; the list of guys in the portal is already simply that loaded with star power.  It's a bummer in many ways for D3 but does have the benefit of giving mid-tier D3 teams real hope of making a leap, with so many elite programs losing stars.  IWU will probably be, for example, a lock for a top three spot in next year's pre-season poll with Cleveland.  Without him, still a top 25 team, but a very different sort of outlook.