In favor of Shaka's model for two reasons:

1) he and the staff have shown it can successfully develop and keep players (thus putting the program in position to be successful at high level)
2) we have indirectly benefited from a market trend, as a majority of teams seek to utilize the portal to improve a team (and disregard recruiting/developing HS players to accomplish this).  We are the outliers here, and it can be helpful in recruiting.

If there's any "wish" I'd like to see is, eventually, Shaka reels in a big fish (HS stud) that could be a one and done or a two and done player.  At some point, the staff will miss on a HS player (or the development of a class would not come in at high level).  A transfer or high level one and done will undoubtedly be necessary. But it's not today and hopefully not next year either.

I am in favor of what Shaka is doing, for the most part. What we have seen on a yearly basis is a vetting process that has generated buy-in and led to springtimes without the chaos of other programs while delivering top-15 results consistently. Looking at the numbers some of these guys are supposedly getting and I can only imagine how much money TK, Kam, Oso, Gold, Chase, Stevie, or just about any of our other players could have been promised had they entered the portal these past couple years. But what the staff is doing is working to retain players, and I cannot applaud that enough.

I do think that if they can continue developing players, this is a brilliant model. It is zagging when everyone else zigs, and should allow for more consistency of results and as we've seen, continuity that leads to constant team improvement. I get the idea of being worried about how Amadou, Hamilton, and Smith will develop as unheralded prospects, but we've seen Oso develop, Gold is getting there, and when it didn't work out, Itejere moved on (though I think he still could've been a productive bench player here).

We have a small sample size, so it's too early to really read too much into it, and we need to see guys like Chase, Gold, Tre, and Zaide (among others) take the steps that TK, O-Max, Stevie, Oso, and Kam have before them, but if the staff can continue to identify and retain, it should sustain itself.

My biggest gripe is how much Shaka is out there saying that we aren't a transfer program. I don't think you have to do that to send a signal to the high school ranks. You will always be able to recruit high school players, but saying "we don't do transfers" kind of closes the door to it in the future. It will make it more difficult to create those relationships in a short period with handlers and players when you do need to dig into the transfer portal. I've already heard talk about some players being turned off by Marquette's portal aversion and NIL approach. You can choose to not take transfers and not openly talk about how you don't take transfers. That's the one thing I would change.

Rather than continue an argument that derails the Joshua Clark thread, I choose to start a new thread.    For the record, I don't hate the portal.  Clearly, it can be used to supplement what a team already has (UConn), or you can use it to start a new team every year.  (Xavier, DePaul)   

   Shaka is opting to eschew it for now, betting on himself and his culture.  Calipari is saying he only wants 8-9 scholarship players anyway.   
    Do you like what Shaka is doing?   Why or why not?   DienerTime thinks that Shaka is being shortsighted and not taking advantage of an available tool.   Certainly, a defensible position.    I am not even sure he is wrong.  What say you?

Let's beat it to death here, rather than other threads about recruits.

Should have come back to get his degree

His 3rd degree.

Confirmed, headed to Washington.

Is it accurate he's getting 2 mill?????