in college sports. They will end up killing the golden goose and in the end it may be a good thing.

The question is what comes next? I believe the amounts of money being spent are, as you say, obscene, but I'm not confident that what comes next will be any better. I admit, though, that by nature I'm a subscriber to the principle that life, more often than not, proceeds from the good to the less good.

...to all of this, which may or may not be what many normal transfers engage in and certainly many of us in whatever field we're in see/experience. Gosh knows its rampant in pro sports.

Dorkha Jahusz is a grad transfer who -- because of the COVID exemption -- could now play for two years at UConn. She said she wanted to try something different.

- My gut is that she went to UConn to get a grad degree. But the real grad degree is with Dr. Geno: a year (or two) to let his training camps/skills development and refinement make her an even better pro prospect, in either Europe and/or the U.S.
- While she's there, she can also play for a championship.
- UConn gets a rebounding tool and a surprisingly athletic player who can stick the mid-range jumper (but has a surprisingly horrible FT %).

What bothers me increasingly about the portal is that players who were developing well on teams (that were also doing well enough) are now leaving, seemingly to look for the next best thing.

Up to a month ago, her frontcourt partner, Aaliyah Patty, was also at Ohio State. She's not graduating yet and -- with Juhasz leaving -- would've been even more of a focal point.

Up north, Camryn Taylor, a soph center who was moderately recruited by Carolyn Krieger, was developed by Megan Duffy and her staff into an honorable mention Big East player. And Duffy got her frontcourt partner to come back, recruited two nice forwards and brought in some fine transfers. So what does Taylor do? Hit the portal, of course.
Unless he hated Milwaukee or Marquette's urban campus, I'm guessing this is about playing for a P5 team next to reach the next level.

Yeah, I know this is what life is about in many instances, but wasn't half the fun/challenge getting better along the way with your teammates?

Initially, the practical side of me thought the transfer portal was here and was going to be an option that had to be utilized, like it or not. Hey, how about Aaliyah Patty?

Now, I'm wondering if I'd just rather have Niele and staff bust their butts getting Nat, Maya and Danielle into a fighting frontcourt.

Strange times, huh?

On one hand, it's fascinating to see how teams construct, break down/up and reconstruct (see Syracuse, Texas Tech, Maryland last year).

But on the other hand, it kinda tears at the traditional "let's get better" aspects of team-building when you see folks like Camryn Taylor of Marquette and Aaliyah Patty move on from teams that could only get better.

This year will probably be the most frenzied, with the opened-up roster sizes, instant eligibility and the spirit of "let's go (anywhere?)."

And to think we're worried about 2022? (Imagine if your're Griffinor DeBerry on UConn right now?)

I realize Covid has made it an even greater problem with the extra year of eligibility, but this seems like Pandora's box - makes you wonder if the NCAA even considers the repercussions of its decisions?

Hopefully this will stabilize - it was nice knowing who might be on the roster the next year.

The ones that are creative & figure a way to keep their players engaged will prevail

Welcome to the real world where everyone on your team is a free agent able to bail any day

My bet is that this will the highest year for transfers that we will see for the next 5-10 years because of the newness of it. I believe we will come to an equilibrium where players realize the grass isn't always greener, and coaches realize that finding the right fit in transfers who can play right away isn't easy in terms of team chemistry.

As we have seen with the one-and-dones on the men's side, you can catch lightning in a bottle with a group of new players but it can also really go sideways. Most coaches don't want to operate with such instability. The ones who think creatively will thrive.