2025 Transfer Portal

[MU82]

Very fair to analyze roster construction on both ends of the spectrum.

In year one, Shaka had to build a roster quickly. He brought in Morsell and Kuath to fill immediate needs, Kolek as a promising point guard, and O-Max as a high-upside prospect. O-Max became an NBA player in two years. Kolek turned into one of the best point guards in the country. These guys were program-defining players brought in through the portal - props to the staff for their development. Same for that of Lewis, Oso, Jones and Mitchell.

Team chemistry never seemed to be an issue. If anything, adding experience helped the young guys develop. Without Tyler, Oso may not be playing for the Suns today. The only real miss was Wrightsil, who barely played due to injury.

Shaka's focus on developing high school recruits is a solid long-term approach. But with the way the game is changing, it's frustrating to see roster holes go unaddressed when he's already proven he can find great fits in the portal seasons ago. His high school recruiting at MU has been fine, not elite. Transfers can bring experience, fill gaps, and raise the ceiling without hurting team culture.

He doesn't need to go all-in on the portal every single year, just stay open to what's worked for him before. If 'he knows more than you' ended every debate, this board would be nothing but game threads and injury updates.

Reasonable take.

I really like the recruit/develop/retain philosophy. It's been successful and it sets us apart from other major-college programs. That this year's recruits specifically mentioned it as a big reason they selected Marquette reinforces it.

However, I don't see why our culture wouldn't allow a well-selected transfer or two to join the program. Just as I trust Shaka to build our team through his recruit/develop/retain philosophy, I trust him to choose transfers who wouldn't disrupt our winning culture.

Having said all that, I do get a kick out of the many Scoopers who are holding up the Weasels as a model of operating in the current college basketball environment. These Scoopers hate that Shaka has won only 3 NCAAT games in 4 years, but they tout a program that has won only 2 NCAAT games in that same span - and only 3 in the 8 years since Gard had to start recruiting his own players.

They got extraordinarily lucky with Tonje ... and they still lost big to Marquette during the season and won only one more NCAAT game than we did. And Storr was a net negative the year before that.

Will Boyd be better than Tonje? I guess so, because one Scooper called Boyd a "monster."

A 6-foot-3, 13 ppg, 41%-shooting, 2-TO-per-game monster with an eFG% lower than Stevie Mitchell's.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Shaka may not be looking in the portal but Marquette has recently been linked to three HS recruits. Late bloomer Odartey Blankson Jr. and West Virginia decommits Kelvin Odih and Braydon Hawthorne.

So it's not like Shaka is completely kicking back and doing nothing.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Honest question ... how is Shaka's culture significantly different from the culture at Houston or the culture at Creighton or the culture at Michigan State or the culture at Tennessee?
Do Marquette players compete harder? Are they better teammates? Share the ball better?
Every program talks about culture, and every winning program thinks they have a great culture.
And if bringing in a portal kid every now and again jeopardizes your entire culture, then your culture was fragile to begin with.

Do those programs have the same roster-building strategy Shaka does?

[Billy Hoyle]

Reasonable take.

I really like the recruit/develop/retain philosophy. It's been successful and it sets us apart from other major-college programs. That this year's recruits specifically mentioned it as a big reason they selected Marquette reinforces it.

However, I don't see why our culture wouldn't allow a well-selected transfer or two to join the program. Just as I trust Shaka to build our team through his recruit/develop/retain philosophy, I trust him to choose transfers who wouldn't disrupt our winning culture.

Having said all that, I do get a kick out of the many Scoopers who are holding up the Weasels as a model of operating in the current college basketball environment. These Scoopers hate that Shaka has won only 3 NCAAT games in 4 years, but they tout a program that has won only 2 NCAAT games in that same span - and only 3 in the 8 years since Gard had to start recruiting his own players.

They got extraordinarily lucky with Tonje ... and they still lost big to Marquette during the season and won only one more NCAAT game than we did. And Storr was a net negative the year before that.

Will Boyd be better than Tonje? I guess so, because one Scooper called Boyd a "monster."

A 6-foot-3, 13 ppg, 41%-shooting, 2-TO-per-game monster with an eFG% lower than Stevie Mitchell's.

I won't look at Bucky but I'll show you MSU. One of two programs with us in 2023-24 who had not taken a transfer the prior year and hadn't taken a transfer since Joey in 2019 and Tyson Walker (Northeastern) in 2020-21. After a poor year by their standards (second round as a 9 seed, losing to 1 seed UNC) Izzo went out and brought in two grad transfers from low majors (Omaha and Longwood) to fill holes and depth. They have five tourney wins in three years  (one over us as the 7 seed).

I'm not an advocate of filling the roster with transfers but a "plug holes with transfers" and we have some holes to fill.

[MU82]

I won't look at Bucky but I'll show you MSU. One of two programs with us in 2023-24 who had not taken a transfer the prior year and hadn't taken a transfer since Joey in 2019 and Tyson Walker (Northeastern) in 2020-21. After a poor year by their standards (second round as a 9 seed, losing to 1 seed UNC) Izzo went out and brought in two grad transfers from low majors (Omaha and Longwood) to fill holes and depth. They have five tourney wins in three years  (one over us as the 7 seed).

I'm not an advocate of filling the roster with transfers but a "plug holes with transfers" and we have some holes to fill.

That makes sense.

[tower912]

... and we have some holes
to fill.

Other than back up stretch 4, there really isn't. 
Hamilton/Clark/Gold
Parham
Ross/Owens/Lowery/Miletic/Phillips/ Stevens
Jones/Parham/James

Now, you can argue that you do not trust freshmen or that too much growth and development may be required.  But there are lots of bodies at 4 of the 5 positions.

So, two scholarships open and it appears Shaka is pursuing high schoolers.

[Pakuni]

Do those programs have the same roster-building strategy Shaka does?

That wasn't my question.

[GB Warrior]

I won't look at Bucky but I'll show you MSU. One of two programs with us in 2023-24 who had not taken a transfer the prior year and hadn't taken a transfer since Joey in 2019 and Tyson Walker (Northeastern) in 2020-21. After a poor year by their standards (second round as a 9 seed, losing to 1 seed UNC) Izzo went out and brought in two grad transfers from low majors (Omaha and Longwood) to fill holes and depth. They have five tourney wins in three years  (one over us as the 7 seed).

I'm not an advocate of filling the roster with transfers but a "plug holes with transfers" and we have some holes to fill.

Longwood can plug some holes

[Vander Blue Man Group]

That wasn't my question.

It's absolutely related to culture as for as Marquette goes.  It's not complicated. 

[wadesworld]

I won't look at Bucky but I'll show you MSU. One of two programs with us in 2023-24 who had not taken a transfer the prior year and hadn't taken a transfer since Joey in 2019 and Tyson Walker (Northeastern) in 2020-21. After a poor year by their standards (second round as a 9 seed, losing to 1 seed UNC) Izzo went out and brought in two grad transfers from low majors (Omaha and Longwood) to fill holes and depth. They have five tourney wins in three years  (one over us as the 7 seed).

I'm not an advocate of filling the roster with transfers but a "plug holes with transfers" and we have some holes to fill.

And now a former 5 star recruit is leaving Izzo's program as well as his starting point guard.  So again, some teams use the portal to add talent and end up losing talent to it, while Shaka appears to be prioritizing keeping the talent he already has in his program.  Until it fails, I'm good with it.

[MU82]

And now a former 5 star recruit is leaving Izzo's program as well as his starting point guard.  So again, some teams use the portal to add talent and end up losing talent to it, while Shaka appears to be prioritizing keeping the talent he already has in his program.  Until it fails, I'm good with it.

Yeah, that's where the slippery slope part of it comes in.

I, for one, am in the camp of really liking recruit/develop/retain while also being willing to consider a transfer or two.

But let's say we decide we need to upgrade our frontcourt with a "banger." And let's say Parham views that as a negative to him staying at Marquette. Would it be worth it to lose Parham - and be viewed as having broken a "promise" to a highly regarded player - to rent a different player?

It's not easy-peasy, as some here seem to think: "Oh, just bring in somebody from the portal already. The Weasels are doing it!"

Now, I trust Shaka. I trust his ability to convince Parham that he's still a very valuable part of the program who can be on the court at the same time as the newcomer. And I trust that Shaka will only choose a transfer who will buy into his vision of our culture.

So I don't think it has to be either-or. I just think there's a lot more that goes into it than, "Use the portal, dammit!"

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

The portal giveth, the portal taketh.

https://x.com/portal_updates/status/1909351909502210262?t=knt4xcEm9oWzdGnKIe0cAQ&s=19

[wadesworld]

The portal giveth, the portal taketh.

https://x.com/portal_updates/status/1909351909502210262?t=knt4xcEm9oWzdGnKIe0cAQ&s=19

WTH?  The guy was already what we hoped Ben Gold would be at NIU.  Gard ruined him, clearly.

[Nutty]

I won't look at Bucky but I'll show you MSU. One of two programs with us in 2023-24 who had not taken a transfer the prior year and hadn't taken a transfer since Joey in 2019 and Tyson Walker (Northeastern) in 2020-21. After a poor year by their standards (second round as a 9 seed, losing to 1 seed UNC) Izzo went out and brought in two grad transfers from low majors (Omaha and Longwood) to fill holes and depth. They have five tourney wins in three years  (one over us as the 7 seed).

I'm not an advocate of filling the roster with transfers but a "plug holes with transfers" and we have some holes to fill.

I don't think you'll see many programs (Except those with a coaching change) that'll fill a roster exclusively with transfers.  If you don't have good players coming in via high school recruiting, it is going to be awfully difficult to keep a competitive program year after year.  Even transfer portal additions where players have an actual track record are hit or miss.  Just look at Kansas this year.  And who would have guessed Tonje would have been better than either Storr or Hepburn at Wisconsin.

Each offseason you have to find your balance between what your foundational players give you, and what you can find in the portal to complement that.  You have to trust that your staff is able to identify the right players who fit the program and see how it plays out when they get on the floor together for the first time. 

Shaka seems to be quite adept at identifying players that fit how he wants to play out of high school.  He should be able to find those same types of players in the portal. 

[Markusquette]

Yeah, that's where the slippery slope part of it comes in.

I, for one, am in the camp of really liking recruit/develop/retain while also being willing to consider a transfer or two.

But let's say we decide we need to upgrade our frontcourt with a "banger." And let's say Parham views that as a negative to him staying at Marquette. Would it be worth it to lose Parham - and be viewed as having broken a "promise" to a highly regarded player - to rent a different player?

It's not easy-peasy, as some here seem to think: "Oh, just bring in somebody from the portal already. The Weasels are doing it!"

Now, I trust Shaka. I trust his ability to convince Parham that he's still a very valuable part of the program who can be on the court at the same time as the newcomer. And I trust that Shaka will only choose a transfer who will buy into his vision of our culture.

So I don't think it has to be either-or. I just think there's a lot more that goes into it than, "Use the portal, dammit!"

Of course there's more that goes into it. That's where Shaka's relationships and team building mantra can work to his advantage. Given the success he had his first year it is surprising how anti-portal he seems now, at least publicly.

The players that left the program really had no role cut out for them and it was mutually beneficial to explore another option. So there hasn't been an instance of a transfer forcing a big difference-maker out yet. Rounding out the roster with more experience and talent can directly benefit the recruits when done properly, which Shaka has demonstrated he can do without issue so far.

[MU82]

If you listen to him, Shaka is not anti-portal. He is anti bringing in a player whose first goal is $$$ and/or paying that guy more than his returning players are making.

So sure, he can identify players he might want in the portal - any coach can. It's harder to find a guy who can be a major contributor but who isn't looking for major coin.

Folks keep noting that he used the portal in 2021, but the landscape was very different even those few years ago as it relates to $$$. Kolek and Morsell weren't transferring for money. It's really apples and oranges.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I an wondering about the strategy of going after more high school recruits in a class that's already 4 deep, plus Clark as a redshirt. If the past two get filled with HS seniors, that's a lot in the same class with no obvious redshirt candidates.  I could see wisdom in getting a rising sophomore to balance the classes.

[jfp61]

https://x.com/VerbalCommits/status/1907900903505445216

[drbob]

Gold is not a 5 physically! Counting on Hamilton and Clark to be viable big East bigs next year seems risky to me. Hope I am wrong!

[jfp61]

The guy was already what we hoped Ben Gold would be at NIU.

All UW jokes aside.

Gold was about the 70th best center last year. And is around the 40th best returning next year.

Quit saying centers from crap teams are better than him. (this isn't just you)

[cheebs09]

https://x.com/VerbalCommits/status/1907900903505445216

Lot of talent leaving the Big East.

[DoctorV]

All UW jokes aside.

Gold was about the 70th best center last year. And is around the 40th best returning next year.

Quit saying centers from crap teams are better than him. (this isn't just you)

There were 69 better centers?!?

[Pakuni]

All UW jokes aside.

Gold was about the 70th best center last year. And is around the 40th best returning next year.

Quit saying centers from crap teams are better than him. (this isn't just you)

Given that there are 80 P4 + Big East programs, being the 70th best center is faint praise.

[Uncle Rico]

Anyone have any centers they'd like to see Shaka bring on?

[MuggsyB]

Wow.  Defense and rebounding travels.  There's zero reason MU cannot find the right personnel and defend/glass clean at an elite level.  Once you establish that, it opens up all sorts of possibilities.