The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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50 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER T here are troubling words being spoken by every major athletics program at ev- ery college in the country. And those words are "has entered the transfer portal." It doesn't really matter whose name pre- cedes those words, because just about every team has been affected as more than 1,200 football players, 1,000 men's basketball players and 750 women's basketball play- ers are flooding the market with what for all intents and purposes is unrestricted free agency in college athletics. That's probably not what was intended by the NCAA when it began to allow many play- ers to transfer from their current school to a new one without the penalty of sitting out a year. Those rules were tweaked and the effects were exacerbated by the clogged lines created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will allow players to have a fifth year of eligibility. Since when, though, has the NCAA passed legislation that didn't have unin- tended consequences? And since when did it pass legislation that coaches couldn't find a way to use to their advantage? Both of those things are why the organization's rule book is more than eight inches thick. Fifteen years ago, the NCAA hit a home run with the graduate transfer rule, allowing any player who graduated from his or her original school to finish out their eligibility at another institution as long as they were enrolled in graduate classes or pursuing a second degree. It not only allowed programs to bring in experienced players to fill immediate needs, it helped boost graduation rates across the board because those who wanted to play immedi- ately elsewhere were incentivized to graduate. NC State has lost a few players to that rule, most recently men's basketball player Brax- ton Beverly to Eastern Kentucky and most famously football quarterback Russell Wilson to Wisconsin. Several different Wolfpack pro- grams have benefited greatly from it as well. Women's head basketball coach Wes Moore and his team won its second consecutive ACC championship when fifth-year senior Raina Perez, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, hit the game-winning shot against Louisville with two seconds remaining in the title game. Initially, there were only a couple of dozen graduate transfers who qualified to move to another school. Last year, more than 500 football players in both the Football Cham- pionship Subdivision (FCS) and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) did so. The transfer portal, which opened for business on Oct. 15, 2018, has been much more utilized, much more quickly in less than three years. Why not? It allows athletes new, if not always better, opportunities. It allows coach- ing staffs to recruit from places like South- ern California, Penn State, Georgia or other schools burdened by their own riches instead of Directional County High School. It allows a player like quarterback Bailey Hockman, a reliable part-time starter for the Wolfpack, to move where he knows that he will likely be the full-time starter this coming season. What fans now have to accept is this will be a good thing for the school they are devoted to. Football coach Dave Doeren took in two players with NFL potential from ACC rival Florida State for the 2021 season to fill spe- cific defensive needs; men's basketball coach Kevin Keatts found players from Providence and Virginia to add to his roster just days after his team's season ended; and women's basketball coach Wes Moore has seemingly hit the jackpot again for his top-five program with the addition of transfers Madison Hayes from Mississippi State and Diamond Johnson from Rutgers to a lineup that already returns all five starters and its top reserve from this year's championship team. All of them will have an immediate impact. The system is undoubtedly clogged after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibil- ity to players whose seasons were affected by the global pandemic. That means up to 25 percent more players are available in every sport and it may take five years for them to work their way through the system. That will likely create more athletes in ev- ery sport who become disaffected with their playing time or status on their current teams. This is unquestionably a good thing for players looking to make an impact else- where, which they all believe they will do. And until the NCAA makes it more difficult for coaches to hop to a better opportunity, without regard for their players or employ- ers, unrestricted transferring is only fair for the players. Without a doubt, it makes the lives of coaches more difficult, just like the recruitment of one-and-done players did a decade ago. Truth be told, the transfer portal is probably what forced North Carolina's Roy Williams to call it a career after 18 seasons in Chapel Hill. It can be beneficial and has certainly given fans, media and coaches offseason fodder. Maybe the annual churn of players will allow fans to focus on their favorite schools a little more — not multiple-star recruits, All-America players, cult-of-per- sonality coaches and lucrative apparel deals. Granted, it's hard to keep up with rosters right now and there is no such thing as a two-, three- or four-year recruiting plan. Those are situations for coaches and their ever-growing staffs to figure out. For the fans and alumni who follow and fund athletics, this might be like the old days when they had no idea who was on the team before the season started. They cared deeply about the outcome of games, but NC State fans would just as soon see their col- lective group of walk-ons beat the walk-ons at North Carolina, Wake Forest or Duke. Perhaps — and like everybody else, I'm just guessing — the modern era of col- legiate free agency will put the emphasis back on the institutions that sponsor varsity sports and the entities that pay for facilities, equipment, scholarships, and both academic and athletic opportunities. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. PACK PERSPECTIVE The Modern Era Of Collegiate Free Agency Former NC state basketball guard Braxton Beverly is among the more than 1,200 football players, 1,000 men's basketball players and 750 women's basketball players that have flooded the NCAA's transfer portal. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS