Hey everyone, excited to write this week about a few different topics now that March Madness is over.

• Big week for golf fans out there with the Master’s going on and watching the final pairing of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
• Also, the Nuggets let go of head coach Mike Malone and their general manager, Calvin Booth. I hope the organization can finish the year strong and make a run in the playoffs this year with all that is happening.

But I wanted to talk about the transfer portal and all the different thoughts on it because it is so widely discussed, causing a shakeup in college sports every year. In Division 1 alone, roughly 35% of the players entered the transfer portal. I don’t know the percentage of players running out of eligibility, and the few that make it to the NBA and leave college early, the amount of change from year to year is incredible.

From a player’s perspective, what bugs me is that players who play at four different schools over four years have no loyalty to a program throughout their career.

• I would like to see some additions to the rule that help promote loyalty to a school and program.
• I understand that players can be in a bad position and should be able to try and find a new opportunity.
• My push would be to change the rule to one free transfer, and on the second one, they have to sit out a year.
• This would emphasize making the right decision the first time around.

I like Jay Bilas’ ideas on the transfer portal and think everyone should take a chance to hear what he is saying. He is one of my favorite announcers and analysts because of how professional he is and how versed he is on all the points he makes when discussing topics such as this.

• Lately, he has been discussing creating multiple-year deals and treating their scholarship and NIL deals as contracts.
• Right now, a scholarship is a one-year deal that you sign, and each year you sign a new one.
• With the amount of money being thrown around at the Division 1 level, having a multiple-year deal could create loyalty, and it gives opportunities to write in buyout clauses where players will forfeit money if they transfer.
• Those thoughts are from Jay Bilas, and I agree with what he is saying even as a player.
• The area where players would disagree is if you enter a terrible situation right off the bat and are stuck in a several-year contract.

Some people have issues with the amount of money given to players and think it could reach too high a number.

• Depending on how the contracts are written, the NCAA could regulate a few things by placing a cap on how much money kids receive while they are in college, and let the rest be paid out upon graduation or if they are going to leave and play in the NBA.
• It would be an educational incentive and push players to work hard in the classroom and graduate.

These are just a few thoughts, but I would prefer to see some more loyalty moving forward from players and programs instead of 35% of players in the portal every year.