Over the years, the JC recruiting stream had dried up. Not sure why? Maybe with academic advising and tutors, the JC route became less of an academic route than before. In the late 90's, the Ducks lived and died by the JC transfer, particularly at DL. James Rose, Junior Siavii, Chris Solomona, etc. Akili was another.
The transfer portal is going to harm a lot of students as well....basically it allows teams to shed players that aren't working out for whatever reason. As the game becomes more "professional" it is going to benefit the elite players. What will be the incentive for institutions to honor scholarships (a la Cam McCormick) when given the transfer portal option?
These may be some of the unintended consequences of the new era.