With Evan Joyner going into the portal for NC A&T, now all CAA teams have had someone enter.

Fitzmorris for Stony Brook entered the portal. Didnt realize he had eligibility left. Such an unlikeable player

I hope he goes somewhere over his head and gets no playing time.

i read yesterday that lucy olsen at villanova entered the portal yesterday. not directly drexel related...but these are the types of transfers i'm going to have a hard time getting used to. she's lined up to be first time all big east next year. most of all...her TEAM is lined up to contend for the big east. i'm going to assume she's getting some kind of offer from a power 5 school. apparently the big east and villanova aren't name brand enough at least on the women's side because i'm going to assume she thinks she can get more attention elsewhere. she's screwing her team and her program in the process.

it's disappointing.

Dell'oroso into the portal from Campbell.

Jamie Bergens also entered the portal.

Certainly seems clear the team decided to stick it out a year together for some expected magic and potential NCAA bid and now all decided it was for naught and have moved on. Bergens had a clear path for playing time with Justin moving on. I have a hard time with his liabilities on offense seeing a better opportunity out there for him (including NIL)

I can't see Bergens moving up very much (low level A-10 school?). It's too bad, because he clearly had a path to more playing time. But he's transferred before and is entering his 5th year, so I am not like totally shocked.

In other news, I saw this brain-breaking graphic yesterday: The MVC is getting completely picked over. https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketba...he_mvc_is/

i'm still sorting out how i feel about the portal. totally understand letting kids look for other opportunities. i'm trying to remind myself that times change and you can't expect things to stay the same all the time. the problem is watching somebody come into a program to develop over 4 years was one of my favorite parts of college athletics. loyalty seems to be gone too. how can you ask fans to stay loyal when the players aren't? i know coaches never were. it's worse as a fan if the players are like this too.

which brings me to 3 conclusions i think i have reached...

1. i don't think you'll ever see me throw money into a collective. at some point there has to be some type of revenue sharing or regulation of this. the idea of just building up a big pot of money to throw at athletes so you can be the highest bidder seems sleazy to me. if it's necessary...fine...i just don't to be part of it.

2. players shouldn't be above criticism. there is talk about lucy olsen transferring from villanova to uconn. these are just rumors which the twitter machine loves to generate. if it happens...they should boo the crap out of her when she comes back to the pavillion. it makes me sick when people are like "good luck and we wish you the best!" sometimes i'm on board with that...but a lot of the time...my first thought is "don't let the door hit you on the way out".

3. this is going to be an excuse to keep things the way they are at drexel coaching staff wise. so again...i'm left with a decision of whether i'm in or out despite feeling the need to stay loyal.

have there been any defections from the women's program? that would be something if we held things together for 2 straight years.

(04-11-2024 11:37 AM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  2. players shouldn't be above criticism.

You're gonna make me have a think about this. As I have gotten older, I have tried to make it less about specific kids.

But you're right that in an era of paid players and easy transfers, maybe I should change my attitude.

I am also with you on searching my feelings about the portal. I totally get how it's fairer/better for the players. But it also sucks bigtime for schools at our level. Maybe it's just one of those: two things can be true situations.

I usually reserve judgment on transfers until I see where they went. If it's a guy transferring to a program closer to home, I get it. If they transfer to a worse program because they weren't getting consistent playing time as an upperclassman, I get it. If they put in their time at a program, proved they can play at a high level, and want to test themselves in their final year of eligibility, I get it.

But if you're just looking for any opportunity to "climb the ladder" and you turn down a golden opportunity in front of you to establish yourself... yeah, it speaks a little bit to a player's character. And I have no problem judging them for that.

i used to get mad when penn state fans booed at football games. i agree it should still be done judiciously and i'll probably always think you shouldn't boo them for poor play. i'd rather blame the 500 coaches they have on the sidelines.

players are less a student athlete than they've ever been. for that reason...i don't think they're above criticism any more. there's a 2024 attitude that i can take what i want or say what i want but not deal with the blowback. maybe it's always been there and is just worse now.

Let's be honest, while a select few pick a school based on the school. Most athletes have always picked based on the coach. They did so and played within the structure given (including playing time and transferring when promises werent met). I think its more obvious than ever that the system kept things in check and forced players to fight through adversity (due to lack of eligibility and penalties for changing ones mind). Without those bounds, its just free agency and we have seen that now the past couple years. My guess is it is not any/much different than years past, they are just playing within the new boundaries set forth and you realize just how unstable it has been for some time. It also shows how without boundaries every player is a superstar who doesnt have to work their way up, which sets a really poor precedence for life in general.

it seems like there's one every year that bothers me and i'm not sure it's something i ever want to get used to. it can't feel good as a coach. even if you did everything right...there's probably a sense of betrayal and questioning what could have been done different. it reminds me of when patients transfer to different practices. it could have been because insurance changed or they moved...but you worry it's because you made them mad for whatever reason.

lucy olsen is the one that bothers me this year. kylie lavelle was last year. why in the the world would you give up being a star at drexel to play at a dead end big 10 women's program like penn state? you wanted to play with your friend who bailed on us too? i was almost proven wrong about that program until they collapsed at the end of the season. i don't see a wbit final four appearance as much of a consolation since they haven't had much success otherwise in the past decade. worst of all...it extends the tenure of a coach who got completely outcoached by denise dillon.

we have like 5 active players on the roster...we will need the portal alot this year haha

Big weekend in the conference. Glasper went into the portal for NC A&T.

Charleston picked up a few commitments, mostly from good teams or good conferences

Hofstra picked up a guard from St John's

Now that players are really picking up steam signing, would be nice to start landing some ourselves

Lamar Oden to Charleston Southern

Jyare Davis to Syracuse

Darlinstone Dubar to Tennessee

Jayare Davis to Syracuse cracks me up. He was too soft to play in the CAA. He'll get destroyed in the ACC, if he even plays.

When I see all of these transfers to power schools, we'd have to think that there have got to be more opportunities for schools like Drexel to pick up top level freshman who can't find a roster spot with bigger programs.

Wishing Lamar best of luck at Charleston Southern! It's a landing spot that makes sense in a lot of ways. Good opportunity for him to be a leader.

if there's a worse example of how the portal is killing college sports than what's going on with villanova women's basketball...i haven't seen it. they have 6 players in the portal including their center christina dalce who went in today...

https://villanovan.com/25748/sports/chri...er-portal/

maybe it's particulary upsetting because i love denise dillon and i have no idea why there would be a mass exodus from her program. if it's money...i can't imagine it's that much if caitlin clark is only getting $80,000 to play in the wnba. maybe i'm naive. there are probably maga hats out there who will whine about paying taxes but will shell out tens of thousands of dollars for athletes to come play for their school. i don't want any part of it if that's the game we're playing.

players deserved the right to move. they didn't deserve the right to show absolutely no loyalty especially to a coach who has done nothing but show loyalty to the schools at which she has coached. i'm sure she'll figure it out somehow. it has to be crushing though to go from a loaded team ready to compete with uconn to having to rebuild your entire roster.

people were giving nick saban a hard time for making the speaking rounds against the portal. he said he was tired of players talking more about what they were going to get payed than anything else. at that level...he was right that the conversation should be about how they're going to improve so they can make money in the near future. that's what separated college sports and made them great. i'm not sure we're ever going to get it back again and it sucks.

https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/...R01EHy_yNw

Money talks for sure, but Kentucky would be a really bad fit for him. Not sure how St John's makes a whole lot of sense either based on style

Somebody told me that Amari cannot get NIL money because he's here on a student visa. I could be wrong though. I'm nore under the impression that he's trying to get more NBA Draft exposure by going to a power conference.