Hoosier beat down

[tower912]

Yes, it is possible to build a good team through the portal.   Yes, it is possible to build a good team by augmenting quality recruits with portal additions.  Buzz did similar at MU.  No argument from me and I am actually neutral on the portal. 

Using the portal is no more a guarantee of success than any other choice.   Since everyone is doing it and there are the exact same number of winners and losers as there were pre-portal. 

It is now an extension of recruiting.

[Shooter McGavin]

It's simply a matter of identifying talent and fit whether it's through the portal, recruiting freshmen and development or a combination of the two.  Coaches who do the best at any of the above will be successful.  Coaches who do it consistently well will be consistently successful.  Coaches who do it poorly will not do well.   

[Viper]

You're not really this stupid, are you?

...Maybe. Possibly.

[Viper]

A bunch of them. For example last year's Kansas team brought in six transfers. They were the pre-season #1 team in the country. Ended the season unranked and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament as a 7 seed to Arkansas.

good example. Forgot about KU.  All I was inquiring about. Thx Sultan

[Viper]

He is.

Indiana a season ago.

 If transfers were a panacea, every other team would be good.   Since that is clearly not the case, and there are the same number of good teams and bad teams as there were pre-portal, a fairly decent case can be made that the portal is ultimately zero sum.

...have we met?

[tower912]

I believe our time at MU overlapped, so perhaps.

[Xact]

This has turned into the best Scoop thread EVER!

[Newsdreams]

This has turned into the best Scoop thread EVER!

Nah, not enough Wille or Muggsy

[WhiteTrash]

This has turned into the best Scoop thread EVER!

So am I dumb if I think Shaka would or would not use the portal?

[tower912]

Maybe

[Xact]

So am I dumb if I think Shaka would or would not use the portal?

I believe you know the answer to that question.

[Jay Bee]

#unequivocal

Some of you are going to just flip your entire sh1t when Shaka goes CRAZAY and brings in a transfer. It's going to happen at some point, guys, and that's OK. The idea he 'doesn't use the portal' is nonsense and it would be criminal to complete ignore potential transfers. Being incredibly picky - that's fine and great. Putting 'your guys who came here first, first'.. great. But, the situation will arise where it makes sense.

Nah.  If he brings in a transfer, he brings in a transfer.  I just don't see it anywhere on the horizon, barring unexpected departures.

JB, in the near term, here are some scenarios that would cause Shaka to hit the portal.

Sean and Nigel both transfer this offseason.

Josh and Caedin both transfer.

After the graduation of Chase, Tre, Zaide, and Sean, the staff is unable to land a PG for the 26 class.

Royce and DO leave as a package, though I think a case can be made that there is abundant wing depth.

Beyond that, some unknown players at some undetermined time leave unexpectedly.

I'd love it if he brought in someone who could immediately step in and make the team better. Doing that at the expense of someone currently on the team, after going through the recruitment process with Mom and Dad, and then going against everything he's been publicly saying by bringing in someone to essentially replace that kid?  That is not going to happen.

Maybe if he replaces grads/transfers with transfers, but Shaka's comments have been pretty straight-forward. Every time he talks about it, it seems like he's closing the door even further on transfers. There just isn't much ambiguity in it.

https://today.marquette.edu/2025/07/mens-basketball-coach-shaka-smart-talks-our-way-how-marquette-approaches-player-retention-development-differently/

https://today.marquette.edu/2025/10/unshakable/

I can't find it now, but he also recently effectively said "if parents and a family are looking for a place that will be loyal to them, stick with them, Marquette is the place to be." He was saying that in response to programs that recruit over people and bring transfers in with the expectation of playing immediately over returning players.

He's been unequivocal.

Do I think Shaka would never ever ever bring in a stud from the portal? I kind of doubt he would, but I won't say never.

Do I think he would change his entire philosophy, on which he has publicly doubled- and tripled- and quadrupled-down, after one disappointing season? No I do not. Do you?

I also think there's a difference between him maybe bringing in a role player who can help fill out a lineup vs. an actual stud who would command big bucks. I could see him bringing in the former as soon as this coming offseason if the situation were right. I do not see him bringing in the latter unless something crazy - such as a complete change in philosophy - happens. And I don't see a complete change in philosophy after just one less-than-good year. Do you?

C'mon, you know basketball. You know which players are and aren't studs.

For example, Owen Freeman was considered a "stud" when he left Iowa and entered the transfer portal. Lots of Scoopers were dreaming that Shaka would make tweaks to his philosophy and go for him.

But to get any stud like that, Shaka would have to do more than just tweak his philosophy. He would have to pay that player more - perhaps substantially more - than he is paying any returning player. And I just don't see it happening. Do you?

Again, I am not among those who says Shaka would never consider a transfer. I could see him bringing in a role player or two to fill a perceived need. It sure would have been nice if he had brought in a good backup PG before last season, which would have given Kam both rest and some time off the ball.

So what's the timeline when a judgment can be made? When we can unequivocally see if Shaka's approach is a success or failure?

Shaka is at the start of his 5th year and so far we have made the tourney every year with the following seeds:

9
2
2
7

This year is TBD. Hypothetically, is going from a 2 to a 7 to missing the tourney enough to say RGV doesn't work?

For me, it isn't because you have to look at the bigger picture in regard to the talent of the underclassmen and incoming recruits.

That's why I think patience is warranted vs going for a quick fix. And like others have said here many times, Shaka is not going to change the identity of the entire program because of some rough waters.

Now, if this team misses the tourney for 2 straight years then the conversation changes.

I am not opposed to transfers.  I cheered for all of the ones in the years prior.  I will cheer for any tranfer that Shaka brings in.  I just don't see it in the near future.  So, I will root for RGV

He has chosen his hill.

I doubt Shaka would ever speak in absolutes like "never" and "always". However, if we take his words at face value, and why wouldn't we, using the portal in the manner some here think he should isn't going to happen.

I think there would need to be very specific circumstances for Shaka to bring a transfer in, especially one that would be expected to play a significant role immediately.

[#UnleashThePortal]

#unequivocal

All of these same people were experts on who mu would go after in the portal as well.

[MU82]

I was wrong, and happily so.

Wasn't the first time; won't be the last.

[Johnny B]

It's wild this thread just pops into ur head out of no where.

[Jay Bee]

It's wild this thread just pops into ur head out of no where.

It didn't. But it was a fun one to find.

[CTWarrior]

#unequivocal

From the Athletic article last month, out of Shaka's own mouth, it sure seems like he was set on not using the portal, so people who said that were not necessarily wrong.

-----

In the last four offseasons, Marquette was the only high-major program in men's college basketball not to take one Division I transfer. Shaka Smart made a decision to bet on the development of his own players in the spring of 2022 instead of chasing a quick fix or reinforcements out of the transfer portal, and it kind of ... stuck.

It almost became a badge of honor. A way to win that separated Marquette from everyone else.

Then Marquette went 12-20 last season.

"Obviously we've evolved some, but let's just say our process was we are going to only take high school players and we're going to do that for a hundred years," Smart said. What happens over the span of a hundred years is certainly a lot more significant to provide analysis or feedback on the process than what happens over one year."

Smart is told the beginning of the transfer portal era, when name, image and likeness was introduced and transfers no longer had to sit out one season, sure feels like a hundred years ago.

"That's part of the reason that we've evolved," he said. "Things are much, much different. When we made the decision in 2022 to not take transfers, that was based on where things were then."

-----

He's evolved because he's had to, like any other clear-thinking successful person.  The whole article is a pretty good read.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7281593/2026/05/15/shaka-smart-marquette-transfer-portal-philosophy/

[brewcity77]

From the Athletic article last month, out of Shaka's own mouth, it sure seems like he was set on not using the portal, so people who said that were not necessarily wrong.

Looking back, I'd stand by everything I posted. In interviews and public comments, Shaka was unequivocal and very clearly didn't want to go to the portal. I suspect our inability to pivot from losing Riley (who I heard was always targeted as a bench piece) and Sheek's transfer is born of that general portal distaste.

Shaka was clear in his preseason comments and quotes the previous 4 years. He was then convinced to change his portal stance. That doesn't invalidate what he said in November and earlier.

[MU82]

Yeah ... I take back what I said about me being wrong! 😎

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Looking back, I'd stand by everything I posted. In interviews and public comments, Shaka was unequivocal and very clearly didn't want to go to the portal. I suspect our inability to pivot from losing Riley (who I heard was always targeted as a bench piece) and Sheek's transfer is born of that general portal distaste.

Shaka was clear in his preseason comments and quotes the previous 4 years. He was then convinced to change his portal stance. That doesn't invalidate what he said in November and earlier.

You honestly believe a 2nd team All-AAC player was going to agree to a backup role and backup money?

I think TAMU has it right.  Either Minessale or Riley was feasible, but not both.