The transfer portal, what a mess it's made

Apr. 3—Power to the people, as it should be.

Love it or hate it, the transfer portal is here to stay — and getting stronger by the minute. Birthed in 2018 as a means for the NCAA to regulate the transfer process, the knuckle-dragging beast that has become the portal as we know it kicked into overdrive in 2021 when the NCAA eliminated the rule requiring athletes to sit out a year after arriving at their new school.

It launched into hyperdrive in 2022 when transfer windows were introduced, mandating each seasonal sport follow predetermined periods when players could declare their freedom in the hopes of landing somewhere better. What used to be a drawn-out flow of names adding to the list has become an avalanche of free agents in a remarkably condensed period.

On Wednesday, the men's basketball portal edged within a few names of 1,400 less than three weeks after the 60-day window opened. It included reigning Mountain West player of the year Great Osobor of Utah State. The women's portal had over 1,000, including seven players from the suddenly crumbling University of New Mexico roster.

Both portals are on pace to easily eclipse 2,000 by the end of the month.

The portal's merging with the name, image and likeness movement has made things even more chaotic. Roughly 40% of Division I players will be in the market for a new school before it's over. The NIL, of course, has monetized the entire process. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2021 that allows athletes to financially benefit from their own celebrity has put the athletes in control.

In many ways, it's glorious. The very thing that used to drag college programs into the NCAA's regulatory doghouse is now a free market that makes athletes some of the wealthiest people in the communities in which they live.

You saw the portal's impact put a stranglehold on college football just a few months ago when dozens of high-profile players from the biggest programs in the land opted out of bowl games in favor of either the draft or heading somewhere else. The risk of playing in a for-profit postseason exhibition was far greater than throwing caution to the wind in hopes of merging with a higher bidder down the road.

In no time at all, the portal has become the second-most disruptive force in college sports behind, of course, the almighty dollar. The pay-for-play mentality is consuming the NCAA, making it one of the most powerful professional sports entities in this country.

Imagine if the same power were granted to high schools. The free-for-all market would become an all-out mosh pit of players jumping from one school to the next.

Is little Suzy not getting enough playing time with the varsity as a freshman? Well lookie here, there are a couple of schools across town who would love to have her.

Junior isn't happy with his role in the offense and detests splitting time at a position he doesn't like? There are a couple of teams in his district that would welcome him with open arms.

The very nature of transferring at the drop of a hat used to be allowed in New Mexico. A quarter century ago, it wasn't uncommon to see athletes skip from one school to another, sometimes in the middle of an academic calendar year.

There was no sitting out, no zoning restrictions within a certain area, no requirements for ineligible downtime and no mandatory waiting period to sit and wait to join a varsity program elsewhere.

One of the most memorable cases that led to an overhaul of the transfer policy was that of Eddie Abreu, an all-purpose athlete many considered a shoo-in for the NFL or, at the very least, a Division I scholarship in football, basketball or track. He left Taos for Albuquerque prior to his freshman year and played at three different high schools in four years before running into academic and legal problems that derailed a college career that never actually started.

Wanderlust melded with recruitment, which led to the NMAA slamming the door on jumping from one school to another. Had it not, super teams would be virtually nonexistent.

The kid riding the bench at a top-tier school could easily go somewhere else and become a multi-year starter. The disgruntled starter sacrificing points or innings pitched in the interest of team growth could eyeball a rival team and go there between school years.

It has certainly opened the door for college programs to explode onto the scene with rosters duct-taped together with transfers (looking at you, North Carolina State men's hoops). Is it time to consider allowing the same rules in the prep ranks?

If the collapse of amateurism in college sports in the last few years is any indication, anything is possible.

Will Webber is the sports editor at The New Mexican. Contact him at wwebber@sfnewmexican.com.