Transfer Portal vs. HS Recruiting

[GeotechDuck]

So is there argument at this point that it might be better for some select programs to completely stop recruiting HS players?  A lot of college programs are wasting a ton of resources, time and money over a 2-3 year period, only to have their best players decommit before signing day, not pan out, or transfer to a better program.  I would think this would be a decent option for programs that are currently struggling and are looking to become competitive quickly.   

 

If you think about the the math, the percentage of incoming HS recruits at a lot of college programs that are getting meaningful snaps with their original college choice has to be decreasing each year.  Why not dedicate all that time, money, and resources to the two portal windows and go get 20 or so proven players every year?  

 

Advantages:

1) The program could land players that have proven talent at the college level.

2) All the time, money, and resources used for recruiting HS players could be utilized to build a massive NIL program to increase hit rate for talented portal players.

3) The roster will be filled with mostly experienced players that made their early mistakes and 'learned on the field" at their previous school.

4) Transfers that come into the program will have used their 1-time transfer, so they are less likely to leave, which would increase stability for that program. 

5) If you have HS players that want to come, you take them, but not at the expense of focusing on portal players.

6) You really only have to recruit for a couple of months instead of going after HS players for years.  

 

I don't think this is a good option for Oregon, but I can think of some programs where I would take this approach immediately if I was the head coach.      

Edited December 8, 2022 by GeotechDuck

[Tandaian]

That is an interesting idea and I'm sure some schools will probably focus more on the portal over high school recruits. 

 

My thoughts are, not to only go the portal route.  I know it wouldn't be all kids turning over every year, but not having Freshman learn the system would seem to increase growing pains every year.  The new guys might have proven themselves in college, but most likely in a different system.

[DUCati855]

 I don't like it. Feels more like pro sports than college.

 

But, I can definitely see schools that have a tough time recruiting (like OSU and WSU) considering it. Until the rules change... use them to your advantage.

[Jon Sousa]

It's got to be both/and...

 

Would a solid transfer guy be overly interested in a school that showed him no interest at all when he was in HS?

 

We can let someone else try that experiment. (Wanna give it a try Coach Prime????)

Edited December 9, 2022 by Jon Sousa

[1Funduck]

You might be on to something there. While I don't believe thus will be the overall mantra of any said program, I do believe some will utilize that idea more than most.

 

That has me wondering, do you need 105 schollies at work if you can get 'Proven' players from the portal? 3 at every position of talented proven kids. The NFL does it on less. We could do it on 65-70. Those would be active participants. 

 

I'm not saying we should go there. However, how much money would be saved going after kids who wanted to NIL up? Better yet, how much TIME would be saved? 

 

Not to worry Duck Fans. Its not going to be the norm having a full squad of Portal guys, but it will find its way into our program in incremental amounts, and already has.

[Charles Fischer]

There is a lot of risk going this route, and I'll explain in an article on Saturday.